01 11 2007 Tetovo _ A convicted criminal was shot dead in an overnight gun battle north of the town of Tetovo in western Macedonia, the country's police said on Thursday.
Police said that the body of a man, with several gunshot wounds, was found lying on the road outside the village of Odri.
He appeared to have been dragged onto the road from the village.
A local inhabitant told Balkan Insight that he heard shots fired during the night near the mosque in the village.
The dead man was later named by police as Xhavid Morina, 44, a convicted criminal who escaped from Dubrava prison in neighbouring Kosovo in a violent break-out in August.
Morina, known also as Commander Drenica, had been serving a 12-year sentence for terrorism.
Two other men brought to Tetovo hospital around 4 am are believed to have been injured during the shootout. Ali Krasniqi and Zija Vejseli, were both operated on in Tetovo hospital and sent for further treatment to Skopje, according to staff at Tetovo hospital.
News of the gunbattle has come amidst growing concern over reports of the appearance of groups of armed men in north–western Macedonia.
They have been stopping cars and asking people for their IDs.
On Wednesday night Croatian state TV aired footage of armed men in uniforms, filmed in the northern Kumanovo area, next to what appears to be Lipkovo lake - a hotspot during the conflict in 2001.
One of them said they had no other option but to take up guns, “as this government has launched a tough offensive against the former National Liberation Army".
The footage, reportedly filmed by the guerrillas themselves, carried by Macedonian A1 TV, showed the group armed with rocket propelled grenade launchers, long-range sniper rifles, heavy machine guns and assault rifles.
They were wearing black uniforms with the NLA’s insignia, one holding a recent edition of the local Albanian-language daily, Fakti.
The first reports of armed men patrols in the Tetovo area, on the road to Brodec and Sipkovica - a stronghold of ethnic Albanian guerrillas during the 2001 insurgency – came a few weeks ago.
Similar patrols have been spotted near Dobroste, on the Poroj-Jazince road, north of Tetovo.
Police have dismissed reports that any armed groups are operating in Macedonia, and have said that some of the patrols reported on the Poroj–Jazince road were, in fact, conducted by special police forces in civilian clothes.
The security situation in Macedonia is stable and there are no indications of serious threats, the country’s Security Council announced after its meeting on Wednesday.
However, in a statement released after the consultations, the Security Council called on the police to “stay vigilant” and “not to underestimate the criminal groups” operating in the country. (Birn)
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