German agents free, questions remain

A chamber of international judges in Pristina on Friday released three German nationals, held in connection to a bomb attack. One of the suspects' lawyers, Adem Ademi, told journalists that the decision came after an appeal. German agents free, questions remain The three men, confirmed to be agents of Germany's intelligence agency BND, will still conduct their defense in the case, and are investigated on terrorism charges. The attack on the building housing EU special representative in Kosovo Pieter Feith-led International Civilian Office (ICO) happened two weeks ago, amid intensive negotiations between Kosovo Albanian leaders and international officials over a UN plan to reconfigure the international presence in the province. No one was hurt in the blast. The local public at first believed that the incident might have to do with the talks, treating it as "an answer to pressure from the European countries to accept the plan", which Pristina rejected. Albanian language media are saying that one of the Germans was arrested in the vicinity of the targeted building shortly after the blast. Another was reportedly detained as he attempted to destroy telephone cards he was using. Although it was the Kosovo judiciary that started the investigation against the three, "many specific circumstances" led to the referral of the case to the international judges in Pristina. The biggest of all mysteries that remain, our reporter says, is who ordered the bomb attack on the ICO building. In Berlin on Saturday, German officials welcomed the release of the three BND agents, the German media are reporting. Deputy spokesman for the government Thomas Steg said that the government has always been convinced of the men's innocence in the bombing incident. At the same time, Germany's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that all three have left Kosovo this morning. No further details were given, while the media are saying that the agents are expected in Berlin this afternoon. The German government in a closed meeting on Thursday informed a parliamentary committee in charge of supervising that country's intelligence agencies that the men arrested by the Kosovo police, KPS, were indeed members of the BND. The German opposition parties are demanding that the case be clarified, but the controversy, with all the hallmarks of a tense spy story – involvement of at least one intelligence agency officer, a bomb attack, local authorities' allegedly solid evidence against the Germans, expert analyses that refute that, denials, claims and speculation – still poses many unanswered questions. Deutsche Welle Radio is asking why one of the German men released in Pristina today went to the scene of the bomb attack, and why the Kosovo authorities have made the case "so political", instead of "discretely processing it as is customary among friendly states". Instead of answering these, and the key question: who in fact bombed the ICO, police and a number of Pristina newspapers are dwelling on an email sent by a previously unknown organization, claiming responsibility for the attack, the radio continues in its report today. The group, calling itself the Army of the Republic of Kosovo, allegedly also threatens further terror attacks on internationals and Serbs in Kosovo. Deutsche Welle says the email is "teeming with spelling errors," while its content is "worrying, too". The attention the media has paid to the arrest of the three BND agents is also mentioned in the context of a reported showdown of the leading Kosovo Albanian politicians with this intelligence agency. BND at one point described "the political elite" in Pristina, such as Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj, as the bosses of a mafia clan, Deutsche Welle reminded its listeners. A car with two of the three German agents is seen leaving a prison in Pristina (Beta/AP)

German agents free, questions remain

The three men, confirmed to be agents of Germany's intelligence agency BND, will still conduct their defense in the case, and are investigated on terrorism charges.

The attack on the building housing EU special representative in Kosovo Pieter Feith-led International Civilian Office (ICO) happened two weeks ago, amid intensive negotiations between Kosovo Albanian leaders and international officials over a UN plan to reconfigure the international presence in the province.

No one was hurt in the blast.

The local public at first believed that the incident might have to do with the talks, treating it as "an answer to pressure from the European countries to accept the plan", which Priština rejected.

Albanian language media are saying that one of the Germans was arrested in the vicinity of the targeted building shortly after the blast.

Another was reportedly detained as he attempted to destroy telephone cards he was using.

Although it was the Kosovo judiciary that started the investigation against the three, "many specific circumstances" led to the referral of the case to the international judges in Priština.

The biggest of all mysteries that remain, our reporter says, is who ordered the bomb attack on the ICO building.

In Berlin on Saturday, German officials welcomed the release of the three BND agents, the German media are reporting.

Deputy spokesman for the government Thomas Steg said that the government has always been convinced of the men's innocence in the bombing incident.

At the same time, Germany's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that all three have left Kosovo this morning.

No further details were given, while the media are saying that the agents are expected in Berlin this afternoon.

The German government in a closed meeting on Thursday informed a parliamentary committee in charge of supervising that country's intelligence agencies that the men arrested by the Kosovo police, KPS, were indeed members of the BND.

The German opposition parties are demanding that the case be clarified, but the controversy, with all the hallmarks of a tense spy story – involvement of at least one intelligence agency officer, a bomb attack, local authorities' allegedly solid evidence against the Germans, expert analyses that refute that, denials, claims and speculation – still poses many unanswered questions.

Deutsche Welle Radio is asking why one of the German men released in Priština today went to the scene of the bomb attack, and why the Kosovo authorities have made the case "so political", instead of "discretely processing it as is customary among friendly states".

Instead of answering these, and the key question: who in fact bombed the ICO, police and a number of Priština newspapers are dwelling on an email sent by a previously unknown organization, claiming responsibility for the attack, the radio continues in its report today.

The group, calling itself the Army of the Republic of Kosovo, allegedly also threatens further terror attacks on internationals and Serbs in Kosovo.

Deutsche Welle says the email is "teeming with spelling errors," while its content is "worrying, too".

The attention the media has paid to the arrest of the three BND agents is also mentioned in the context of a reported showdown of the leading Kosovo Albanian politicians with this intelligence agency.

BND at one point described "the political elite" in Priština, such as Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj, as the bosses of a mafia clan, Deutsche Welle reminded its listeners.