UNMIK: Probe into Kosovo prison break-out

The UN wants an independent inquiry into the Dubrava prison after seven inmates managed to escape Saturday. Five prison guards have been charged with aiding Saturday's break-out, and four other people have been arrested on suspicion of providing covering fire for the escape outside the prison walls with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, Reuters reported. UNMIK: Probe into Kosovo prison break-out The UN mission in charge of Kosovo since the 1998-1999 conflict said on Wednesday it wanted to hold "an independent evaluation of conditions at the Dubrava prison." The probe would try to "ascertain all the facts and ensure there are safeguards in the future to avoid anything else like this happening again," said spokesman Alexander Ivanko. Among those who escaped were Saudi-born Ramadan Shyti, who is wanted on murder and terrorism charges in neighboring Macedonia, and Lirim Jakupi, who is believed to be a leader of the shadowy Albanian National Army. The United Nations, with around 1,300 police officers in the province, has no direct role at the prison. But the escape is an embarrassment for the mission and the 16,000-strong NATO-led peace force. One of those who broke out was armed with a pistol, while another was making his seventh escape from prison. A Kosovo police spokesman acknowledged the convicts might already have slipped across the province's porous borders into neighboring Macedonia, Montenegro or Albania. A NATO spokesman said Alliance forces could help with the manhunt if necessary.

UNMIK: Probe into Kosovo prison break-out

The UN mission in charge of Kosovo since the 1998-1999 conflict said on Wednesday it wanted to hold "an independent evaluation of conditions at the Dubrava prison."

The probe would try to "ascertain all the facts and ensure there are safeguards in the future to avoid anything else like this happening again," said spokesman Alexander Ivanko.

Among those who escaped were Saudi-born Ramadan Shyti, who is wanted on murder and terrorism charges in neighboring Macedonia, and Lirim Jakupi, who is believed to be a leader of the shadowy Albanian National Army.

The United Nations, with around 1,300 police officers in the province, has no direct role at the prison. But the escape is an embarrassment for the mission and the 16,000-strong NATO-led peace force.

One of those who broke out was armed with a pistol, while another was making his seventh escape from prison.

A Kosovo police spokesman acknowledged the convicts might already have slipped across the province's porous borders into neighboring Macedonia, Montenegro or Albania. A NATO spokesman said Alliance forces could help with the manhunt if necessary.