- Title: French police arrest former Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj
- Date: 4th January 2017
- Summary: PRISTINA, KOSOVO, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO (FILE - MARCH 9, 2005) (4:3) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** MOTORCADE CARRYING ETHNIC ALBANIAN FORMER REBEL LEADER, RAMUSH HARADINAJ, DRIVING ALONG ROAD VARIOUS OF MEDIA RUNNING UP TO CAR HARADINAJ GETTING OUT OF CAR AND SAYING (Albanian): "HAVE A NICE DAY" HARADINAJ ENTERING BUILDING / PEOPLE CLAPPING PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE PRISTINA, KOSOVO (FILE - DECEMBER 4, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEADSHOT OF ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO (AAK) LEADER, RAMUSH HARADINAJ, ON POSTER HARADINAJ LISTENING TO JOURNALIST'S QUESTIONS (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) HEAD OF ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO (AAK), RAMUSH HARADINAJ, SAYING: "My aim is to take the primary responsibility for the country, to take on governing responsibility and the possibility of working to change the situation in the country through effective governing, this is my aim." (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) HEAD OF ALLIANCE FOR THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO (AAK), RAMUSH HARADINAJ, SAYING: "We have as one option a political agreement to secure the division of responsibilities or taking some responsibilities in the period before the elections." ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (FILE - NOVEMBER 29, 2012) (REUTERS) PLANE SITTING ON TARMAC AT AIRPORT FORMER KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER HARADINAJ AND OFFICIALS WALKING TOWARDS PLANE PLANE TAXIING ON TARMAC
- Embargoed: 19th January 2017 22:13
- Keywords: Ramush Haradinaj Kosovo Serbia France arrest guerrilla commander
- Location: PRISTINA, KOSOVO AND ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
- City: PRISTINA, KOSOVO AND ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
- Country: France
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XO2MVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
French police on Wednesday (January 4) arrested former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, a guerrilla commander during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, on a Serbian arrest warrant, according to French police sources and Kosovo's Foreign Ministry.
Serbia considers Haradinaj a war criminal for his role in leading a guerrilla insurgency in its former southern province of Kosovo, which declared independence with Western backing in 2008.
Haradinaj served briefly as prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 and 2005, while it was a ward of the United Nations, before being tried and acquitted twice of war crimes at a U.N. court in The Hague.
The Kosovo Foreign Ministry said in a statement the arrest on a Serbian warrant was "unacceptable", adding it was doing everything possible to secure his release, which it expected to happen.
French border police arrested Haradinaj upon his arrival at Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France on a flight from Pristina, the sources said.
In June 2015, Haradinaj was arrested by Slovenian police but was released after two days following diplomatic pressure.
Kosovo and France enjoy good diplomatic relations and Paris remains one of the biggest supporters of the youngest European state. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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