Fw: CIA man behind bombing of Nis Express bus in Kosovo? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

Mon, 30 Jul 2001 12:31:53 -0700 

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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 10:23 AM
Subject: CIA man behind bombing of Nis Express bus in Kosovo?

 
----- Mensaje original -----
Enviado: domingo, 29 de julio de 2001 9:36
Asunto: [sn-vesti 6622] CIA man behind bombing of Nis Express bus in Kosovo?

"UN sources believe the suspect, Florim Ejupi, who was wearing a bright orange prison uniform when he vanished and was said to have cut his way through four sets of barbed wire fences with a simple tool, had been working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His trial would have been a serious embarrassment, they claim. "

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British troops' error led to bus bomb

The Sunday Times
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/07/29/stifgneur02006.html

Bob Graham Pristina


Jailbreak: Bush at Bondsteel, from where the suspect escaped
 
A SIMPLE mistake by British soldiers serving in Kosovo, combined with a failure in basic communications, led to the deaths of 11 Serbs and injury to more than 40 others when Albanian terrorists bombed a convoy of buses.
Sensitive information gathered three months beforehand had pinpointed the likely location of the bomb on a mile-long stretch of road near the boundary between Kosovo and the rest of Serbia.
As a result of the intelligence gathered by British police officers serving as volunteers in Kosovo, detailed searches of the road were carried out every day. The searches were made by British soldiers patrolling with Nato's peacekeeeping force.
However, last February 16, the day of the attack, a series of factors coincided to change the routine of the weekly convoy which carried civilians from Serbian enclaves within Kosovo across the border for shopping and family visits. A critical half-mile stretch of road, including two culverts beneath it, went unchecked by a British patrol.
According to the British Army in Kosovo, a failure of communications equipment between the search team and a second unit controlling the movement of buses resulted in the convoy, containing more than 250 civilians, being allowed through before the bomb checks were completed.
"It was more than a mistake," said Captain Simon Bergman, the British Army spokesman in Kosovo. "Circumstances conspired to allow the terrorists to carry out these murders. We deeply regret what happened and have taken measures to ensure that lessons have been learnt and it will not happen again."
The murky aftermath of the so-called Nis Express bombing was further obscured when the chief suspect "escaped" in bizarre circumstances from a high- security American prison in the province.
Under fire: Bill Morris, the TGWU leader in Britain, has been accused of being a dictator
The detective who headed the investigation into the attack has said he does not believe the suspect, a Kosovar Albanian who is also wanted in Germany on manslaughter and attempted murder charges, left the American Bondsteel base unaided.
"My opinion is he did not escape," said Detective Stu Kellock, former head of the United Nations Kosovo Mission's regional serious crime squad. "I thought a prisoner could not just walk away from Bondsteel. In my opinion he was taken elsewhere for questioning or something and I still do not understand why we, the police in the investigation who held jurisdiction, were not involved."
UN sources believe the suspect, Florim Ejupi, who was wearing a bright orange prison uniform when he vanished and was said to have cut his way through four sets of barbed wire fences with a simple tool, had been working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His trial would have been a serious embarrassment, they claim. UN officials want to know why Ejupi and three other men arrested on March 20 were taken on May 3 from their detention centre in Pristina, the capital, to Bondsteel, the
sprawling base visited last week by President George W Bush.
The controversy stretches back to last November, when the first report about a possible attack on the Nis Express was made by the UN mission's police. The intelligence specified that a bomb would be placed in a culvert on the first stretch of road inside Kosovo. The area was in the British sector and was patrolled at the time by the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment - initially by teams of men hidden in surrounding fields.
The commanders later decided on highly visible open patrols. The plan was for a twice-daily check of 27 culverts and 35 other vulnerable areas. Each culvert was given a letter of the alphabet and the teams concentrated on the five closest to Gate 3 - letters A to E. By mid-February the Princess of Wales Regiment had been replaced by 2 Royal Tank Regiment. On February 16 the soldiers were suddenly told at 11.05am that the Nis Express was ready to leave, 55 minutes earlier than expected. Four culverts had yet to be checked. Two more were quickly inspected and then two men were seen walking along a nearby hill. The search team went to intercept them. According to Bergman, the British soldiers manning Gate 3 advised the search team that the Nis Express was now on its way. "But there was a problem with communications," Bergman explained. No warning was given that the last two culverts had not been inspected.
Bozidar Nedeljkovic, a 56- year-old electrician, will never forget what happened next as he travelled back from Nis to his home village of Lapjle Selo. For Serbs, February 16 is known as Zadusnica, when the graves of relatives are visited. Nedeljkovic was on his way to his parents' cemetery. At the border, everyone on board five buses was ordered off and searched. Luggage was unloaded and the vehicles were checked by sniffer dogs.
The Serbs became agitated, demanding to be allowed through so they could reach their relatives' gravesides by noon, as tradition demanded.
As his bus moved forward, Nedeljkovic was thinking of the flowers he would take to his parents' graveside when the road erupted. Some 150lb of high explosive concealed in culvert B ripped the front from the bus and scattered bodies and luggage over a wide area.
Nedeljkovic found himself lying on the road outside the vehicle, bleeding profusely from torso injuries. His wristwatch had stopped at 11.12am.
Chris Albiston, commissioner of UN police in Kosovo and deputy commissioner of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, described the incident as the biggest single outrage of the past 12 months. In the aftermath four suspects were arrested, including Ejupi.
The investigation has been thrown into disarray by the escape of Ejupi, however. The evidence against the other three alleged accomplices is considered circumstantial and a panel of three international judges sitting in Pristina has already indicated that there is not sufficient evidence to hold them. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for the whereabouts of Ejupi, his lawyer, Toma Gashe, smiled last week when asked if he was still alive. "I have heard nothing from him, neither has his family. I know I would like to because he has not paid me for my work," he said. !!!???????????
 
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