Germany rejects bomb link

Government dismisses reports of connection to Kosovo attack as ‘absurd’

A Kosovo police officer guards the building of the European Union mission in Kosovo’s capital Pristina yesterday. A court in Kosovo has ordered three Germans remanded in custody for 30 days on suspicion of attacking the European Union offices in Pristina.

BERLIN/PRISTINA (Reuters) – The idea of German state involvement in terrorist attacks abroad is ludicrous, the government said yesterday, reacting to reports that three German spies are being held in Kosovo over an attack on an EU office.

Government spokesman Thomas Steg said he would not comment on details of the reports, but told a regular news conference, “The idea that the German government could be involved in terrorist attacks abroad is absurd.” The three Germans were arrested last week and questioned on Saturday by a Pristina district court judge who ordered them to be detained until December 22. A defense lawyer said the three were suspected of having committed an act of terrorism.

A police source in Kosovo has told Reuters the three are members of the BND foreign intelligence agency, Germany’s equivalent of the CIA. The BND has declined to comment. An explosive charge was thrown on November 14 at the International Civilian Office (ICO), the office of EU Special Representative Pieter Feith, who oversees Kosovo’s governance, but caused only minor damage.

German media have said the BND officials had told investigators they had been examining the scene of the explosion, but had not been involved in it. Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily quoted one of the suspects’ lawyers as saying they had gone to the scene “out of curiosity.”

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the issue should not be politicized, adding Kosovo laws had to be respected.

“All are equal in front of the law. No one is above the law... We should trust the justice institutions and should not have any prejudgments and political assessments,” he said. “Relations with Germany were, are, and will be excellent.”

A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said he hoped for a solution that would satisfy all sides, adding, “We have good and trustful relations with the Kosovo government.” “I assume this case will not have negative effects on our bilateral relations,” he said, adding Germany was a key supporter of Kosovo and had been one of the first countries to recognize its independence when it seceded from Serbia in February after nine years under UN stewardship.