Kosovo capital hit by bomb blast

Local residents were evacuated in case of a second bomb

One Serb was killed and four others injured by a large bomb that went off near Yugoslav Government offices in the Kosovo capital Pristina.

The bomb appeared to have been placed in a car parked near the Centre for Peace and Tolerance which houses the offices of Kosovo political parties and the Yugoslav passport office.

International officials condemned the attack as they searched for witnesses and suspects.

The bomb was placed in a parked car

"For the future of Kosovo it could not be a more tragic incident," said UN police spokesman Derek Chappell.

"This is an attack against everything that people trying to build this country are working for."

Serb media identified the victims as employees of the Yugoslav Government office in Pristina and said that one of the four injured, a woman, was in serious condition.

No arrests

No arrests were immediately made and officials said they had no details on the type of bomb detonated, although UN spokesman Andrea Angeli estimated the device contained 10 kilogrammes (22 pounds) of explosives.

It is not yet clear who the bomb was directed at, though ethnic Albanians often gather outside the building queuing to apply for Yugoslav passports.

Kosovo's UN administrator, Hans Haekkerup, called the attack "an outrage" and said he was awaiting the investigators' report.

"I am deeply saddened by the continued violence in Kosovo despite our best efforts to bring peace and security to all people," he said.

Albanian rebels blamed

Yugoslav authorities have blamed ethnic Albanian rebels and demanded that the UN and Nato-led peacekeepers "undertake decisive and sharp measures" against them.

"Clearly Albanian terrorists and extremists are determined to continue with their evil works," said the Yugoslav Government minister for Kosovo, Momcilo Trajkovic.

He also accused international officials of failing to improve security of Yugoslavia's mission in Pristina.

Last August, a bomb exploded at a nearby building destroying Serb offices as well as others used by ethnic Albanian parties, one woman received minor injuries.

Kosovo, a province of Serbia, is plagued by continuing ethnic tension between Serbs and the majority Albanians and is currently administered by the international community.