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Four armed Islamists arrested in front of Visoki Decani monastery
Belgrade,
1 February 2016
Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric said that the incident, which occurred outside the main gate of the monastery of Visoki Decani, warns about the need for the institutions in Pristina to tackle the causes of religious extremism.
Djuric said in a statement to the Tanjug news agency, following the arrest of four armed Islamists in front of the main gate of the monastery of Visoki Decani, that this incident reminds and warns of the need for the institutions in Pristina to address the social causes of religious extremism which threatens the future of all citizens who live in Kosovo-Metohija.
They should be dealing with that rather than with a non-existent threat in the form of the Community of Serbian Municipalities and the Kosovo Serbs, he said.
Abbot of Visoki Decani Sava Janjic said in a statement to the Tanjug news agency that four armed Islamists have been arrested in front of the main gate to the Visoki Decani monastery and that the investigation is under way.
The four Kosovo Albanians from various parts of Kosovo – Gnjilane, Urosevac, Prizren and Djakovica – were arrested at around 21.00 on Saturday in front of the main gate to the monastery in a car with the Urosevac licence plates, he specified.
In a joint operation, Kosovo police and KFOR members asked the men to show their IDs and searched the car. They found a Kalashnikov rifle with ammunition and a pistol, as well as some extremist Islamist books, the Abbot added.
This incident is another indicator that the presence of KFOR troops is vital for the security of this monastery which features on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Abbot Sava emphasised.
Abbot Sava recalled that in October 2014 two gates and outbuildings of Visoki Decani were defaced by the graffiti reading ISIS and AKSH, and only four months before that, by the graffiti reading KLA.
He said that the police investigation has not yielded any results, but added that the presence of KFOR since then increased several times, as well as control the entire area around the monastery, which is a zone of high security risk.
The Visoki Decani Monastery was attacked four times after the war, and only one attack has been investigated and one Kosovo Albanian was sentenced in 2007 for assault on the monastery to two and a half years in prison, the Abbot of Visoki Decani said.
They should be dealing with that rather than with a non-existent threat in the form of the Community of Serbian Municipalities and the Kosovo Serbs, he said.
Abbot of Visoki Decani Sava Janjic said in a statement to the Tanjug news agency that four armed Islamists have been arrested in front of the main gate to the Visoki Decani monastery and that the investigation is under way.
The four Kosovo Albanians from various parts of Kosovo – Gnjilane, Urosevac, Prizren and Djakovica – were arrested at around 21.00 on Saturday in front of the main gate to the monastery in a car with the Urosevac licence plates, he specified.
In a joint operation, Kosovo police and KFOR members asked the men to show their IDs and searched the car. They found a Kalashnikov rifle with ammunition and a pistol, as well as some extremist Islamist books, the Abbot added.
This incident is another indicator that the presence of KFOR troops is vital for the security of this monastery which features on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Abbot Sava emphasised.
Abbot Sava recalled that in October 2014 two gates and outbuildings of Visoki Decani were defaced by the graffiti reading ISIS and AKSH, and only four months before that, by the graffiti reading KLA.
He said that the police investigation has not yielded any results, but added that the presence of KFOR since then increased several times, as well as control the entire area around the monastery, which is a zone of high security risk.
The Visoki Decani Monastery was attacked four times after the war, and only one attack has been investigated and one Kosovo Albanian was sentenced in 2007 for assault on the monastery to two and a half years in prison, the Abbot of Visoki Decani said.
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