Kosovo journalist dies of wounds sustained in attack

Associated Press, Jun 25, 2005 1:09 PM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-A Kosovo journalist died Saturday from wounds sustained in a shooting earlier this month, his newspaper said.

Bardhyl Ajeti, 28, died at a hospital in Milan, Italy, where he was being treated after being shot in the head June 3, the Kosovo daily Bota Sot said.

Gunmen opened fire on his car as he drove through a village in eastern part of Kosovo, the paper said.

One person was briefly detained for questioning. Police did not give a motive for the attack.

Ajeti had been critical of former ethnic Albanian rebel leaders who he accused repeatedly of postwar killings and organized crime in Kosovo. His newspaper is close to Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova and Rugova's party, the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999 following a NATO air war aimed at stopping a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians seeking independence for Kosovo.