Former guerrilla commander Ramush Haradinaj was flying from Pristina on a diplomatic passport when he was detained

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A former prime minister of Kosovo who was a guerrilla commander during the Kosovo war has been detained in France on a Serbian arrest warrant.

Ramush Haradinaj was arrested by border police upon his arrival at Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France on a flight from Pristina, French police sources said.

Kosovo’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “He was stopped by French authorities based on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia in 2004, which for us is unacceptable.” The ministry said it was doing everything possible to secure his release, which it expected to happen.

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Serbia considers Haradinaj a war criminal for his role in leading a guerrilla insurgency during the 1998-99 conflict in its former southern province of Kosovo. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence with western backing.

Haradinaj served as prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 and 2005, while it was a ward of the United Nations, before being tried and acquitted twice of war crimes at a UN court in The Hague.

A French judiciary source said investigators would on Thursday begin looking into whether there were reasons not to execute the extradition request, especially if it had been issued for political reasons. They would look at whether he had already been tried before the UN court on the same charges as those forming the basis for the arrest warrant, the source added.

Haradinaj, the leader of the opposition party Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), was travelling on a diplomatic passport when he was stopped by French authorities.

In June 2015 Haradinaj was arrested by Slovenian police but was released after two days following diplomatic pressure.

Kosovo and France enjoy good diplomatic relations and Paris remains one of the biggest supporters of the youngest European state.



