Kosovo Serb Leader Shot in Leg at Home

A moderate Kosovo Serb leader was shot and wounded at his home, peacekeeping authorities said Monday, and the top United Nations official here denounced anti-Serb violence and warned ethnic Albanians that they risk losing world support.

Momcilo Trajkovic, president of the Serbian Resistance Movement, suffered a gunshot wound to his right thigh after being attacked by “unknown assailants” late Sunday evening, U.N. spokeswoman Daniela Rozgonova said. Police are seeking two ethnic Albanian suspects, she said.

Trajkovic, 49, is a longtime critic of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and a key representative of Kosovo Serbs. Bernard Kouchner, head of the U.N. mission here, issued a statement in which he called Trajkovic “one of our most important allies in our efforts to build a tolerant and multiethnic Kosovo.”

The shooting of Trajkovic comes amid continuing ethnic violence in Kosovo, including many attacks on Serbs that are seen either as revenge by ethnic Albanians or as part of an effort to drive remaining Serbs from Kosovo.

“To terrify and attack minorities and their leaders to the point of an exodus will leave Kosovo a morally weak and internationally scorned place,” Kouchner warned. “Kosovo will risk losing assistance and respect from the outside world. I ask all the people of Kosovo to end these ruthless attacks now.”

Estimates of the number of Serbs remaining in Kosovo vary widely. A mid-range figure is that 50,000 remain here out of about 200,000 before NATO launched its bombing campaign this spring to stop Milosevic’s repression of ethnic Albanians.

Official reports initially said Trajkovic was shot through the door of his apartment in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. Although under United Nations administration, Kosovo technically remains a province of Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia.

Trajkovic, however, told reporters that he had opened the door when someone rang the bell, then slammed it on his assailants after being shot. Trajkovic said he was attacked by two men who spoke Albanian.

On Monday, the door itself showed no damage, but there was a bullet hole about 4 feet above floor level in a pane of glass next to the door. It was not clear how many bullets had been fired.

A spokesman for the KFOR multinational peacekeeping force, Maj. Ole Irgens, said that Trajkovic’s apartment normally is under constant guard, but that Sunday evening, “Mr. Trajkovic did not want KFOR protection for personal reasons.”

After being shot, Trajkovic called the KFOR unit in the building to request help, Irgens said.

“Within minutes, soldiers and medical assistance arrived and found that he was shot by a small-caliber weapon in his upper right thigh,” Irgens said. “Mr. Trajkovic himself opened the door for the soldiers and appeared calm and composed.”

Gen. Klaus Reinhardt, commander of the peacekeeping force, said Trajkovic had asked for the KFOR guard to be removed Sunday so he could meet privately with family members.

Attacks on Kosovo’s minorities, which have included frequent violence against Roma, or Gypsies, as well as Serbs, are “absolutely intolerable,” Reinhardt said.

Trajkovic is one of two Serbs chosen by Kouchner to be members of the multiethnic Kosovo Transitional Council. The council serves in an advisory capacity but may be transformed into a quasi-executive body.

He and the other Serbian representative, Bishop Artemije of the Serbian Orthodox Church, have been boycotting council meetings in recent weeks to protest what they say is insufficient concern over Serbian residents of Kosovo.