http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2006/January_13/20.html?w=p
Albanian police: Serbian "secret services" behind cross vandalism
BBC Monitoring
January 13, 2006
Text of unattributed report, "Attack on cross - State Intelligence Service: We
knew", published by Albanian newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare on 11 January,
subheadings as published
The damage to a cross that had been put up a few weeks ago atop one of the hills
that dominate the Bushat region is believed to have been carried out by
individuals with links to Serbian intelligence services. A senior police officer
in Shkoder, who asked us not to reveal his name, told Gazeta Shqiptare that
"this suspicion is one of the main avenues of the investigation". The regional
directorate of the State Information Service [ShISh] had information that had
been obtained through operative channels a month ago that such an act was
possible, but they did not think it would be carried out so quickly.
"The authors of this crime may have wanted to use as a cover in the dispute
between the Shkoder Muftini and the leaders of the Catholic community over the
crosses that have been put up recently and the reconstruction of a religious
site at the Rozafa Castle," our source said.
Another cross, similar to the one that has been put up on Zef Jana Hill, near
the village of Rranxe, and coated with phosphorous paint that makes it visible
at night, has been put up on another hill overlooking the Malesi e Madhe area.
It is located near the village of Zagore, only a few kilometres from the border
with Montenegro. Our source said that it was possible that "cells of the secret
services of our northern neighbours are trying to ignite flashpoints in order to
divert the attention from very important developments in the region".
The discovery of the authors of this crime, which is aimed at provoking the
Catholic community and igniting a conflict with local Muslims, would reveal the
true motives behind the erection of these crosses and their subsequent
destruction. The first signs of this happening were obvious yesterday, when a
number of local Catholics said they were going to restore the cross to its
original location. They even said that they were going to ask the people of the
other religion not to damage the cross again.
Incident
The perpetrators sawed off and then pulled down the cross, which had been put up
at the top of the hill. They used a rope to pull it down. The word "worse" was
written on one of the metallic surfaces of the cross, but no one could explain
what this message meant.
This serious incident happened on the day of Kurban Bayram, only a few hours
after President [Alfred] Moisiu's visit to the Shkoder Muftini. The event, which
has shaken the entire Catholic community in this region, happened at 1530 [1430
gmt] in the Bushat commune. Official sources from the Shkoder police said that
two people knocked over the cross on the Zef Jana Mountain, but they had not
been identified yet. According to the police, the iron foundations of the cross
were cut using metal cutting equipment with an abrasive wheel. Local Catholics
were the first to notice what had happened, and they later informed the police.
The Shkoder Muftini reacted immediately, distancing itself from this act and
condemning the perpetrators. It has demanded that this problem be resolved by
institutions and that the state should find and prosecute the perpetrators. Only
two months earlier, the Shkoder Muftini asked publicly that all of the crosses
that have been put up on hills around Shkoder be removed.
Two unidentified individuals
Children playing on this hill saw two individuals going up the hill to the place
where the cross was located. "I was playing with my friends when I saw the cross
fall over. Earlier, we saw people going up the hill, but we did not think they
were going to knock down the cross," Konrad Nika, 15, told the police later. The
children raised the alarm in the village immediately, and the police were
informed later. Shocked by this act, the villagers say that those who damaged
the cross made a grave mistake. Many of them prayed: "Forgive them God, for they
know not what they do." But they believe this act has been committed by Muslims.
Investigation
The police have carried out a preliminary investigation at the site in the
presence of many Rranxe villagers. They say that the iron foundations of the
cross were cut using metal cutting equipment with an abrasive wheel. After
cutting the iron foundations, the perpetrators used a rope to pull down the
cross. The police note that the word "worse" was written on the cross, but,
according to them, that does not explain anything, because it could have been
written earlier. The Shkoder police have launched an investigation to clarify
this incident in full.
Residents
Only few hours after the cross was brought down, Rranxe residents started work
on putting it back on Zef Jana Mountain. They said the cross is sacred to them
and will be restored.
Source: Gazeta Shqiptare, Tirana, in Albanian 11 Jan 06
Serbian News Network - SNN
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