Kosovo paramilitary threat prompts alert

FINANCIAL TIMES (UK) By Eric Jansson

October 21 2005 03:00 | Last updated: October 21 2005 03:00

A new criminal paramilitary group in Kosovo has forced UN police to step up security in Serbia's breakaway province, officials said.

The appearance of soldiers dressed in black - possibly members of a group calling itself the Kosovo Independence Army - comes as the UN Security Council prepares to call for talks on Kosovo's possible independence from Serbia.

Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, the Serbian government's lead co-ordinator for Kosovo affairs, said members of her staff on Tuesday had "escaped an armed ambush" apparently by the group. Eric Jansson, Belgrade