Kosovo Police Thwart Christmas Car Bomb
Kosovo authorities said Friday a potential car bombing was thwarted in Pristina on Christmas day when police stopped a Serbian in a vehicle packed with a large quantity of explosives.
Interior Minister Skender Hyseni said in a statement that police had seized more than 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) of explosives Thursday, and noted had they been "detonated in a public place, human casualties would have been enormous."
Police spokesman Baki Kelani told reporters the car was "filled with a huge quantity of explosive material," and was stopped late Thursday while being driven through a residential area in the capital that houses many embassies and diplomats.
A high-level police official involved in the probe who asked not to be named told Agence France-Presse that the explosive "could be ignited remotely," and is "of a type and quantity suitable for the destruction of large objects."
Kosovo's prosecutor has launched a probe into what is being considered a plotted "terrorist attack."
Hyseni said in his statement the car's driver "is a citizen of Serbia...with permanent residence in Belgrade, and (carrying) Belgrade license plates on his car."
The driver -- born in 1968 and identified only by the initials S.G. -- was immediately arrested, Kelani said.
Police refused to speculate on the intended target.
Local media said a possible target could have been the Catholic cathedral the city center close the the arrest site, which was packed with hundreds of Christmas day worshipers.
Source: Agence France Presse
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