ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatian media on Friday evening released interviews with former Macedonian interior minister and incumbent MP Ljubo Boskovski, for whom Interpol yesterday issued an arrest warrant on suspicion that he ordered
the murder od seven illegal immigrants from Pakistan and India in 2002.
ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatian media on Friday evening released
interviews with former Macedonian interior minister and incumbent MP
Ljubo Boskovski, for whom Interpol yesterday issued an arrest warrant
on suspicion that he ordered the murder od seven illegal immigrants
from Pakistan and India in 2002.#L#
Boskovski claims in the interviews that he is a victim of political
imputations aimed at removing him from politics.
At the time of the murder the victims were said to be members of a
terrorist group which planned attacks on embassies in Skopje. Now it
is suspected the operation was staged to show Macedonia's
participation in the war on terror, according to Croatian Television
(HTV).
In the interview with HTV Boskovski dismisses such allegations,
labelling them political imputations. He says that in 2002 Macedonia's
secret service joined the struggle against global terrorism alongside
"friendly Western services".
According to Boskovski, there is a CD ROM containing taped
conversations between "the Pakistanis and Albanian militants from Al
Qaeda arranging an attack on the American embassy in Skopje".
HTV did not say when and where the interview with Boskovski was
conducted. Newspapers claim in their Friday's issues Boskovski was
interviewed in Zagreb.
In his interviews with Vecernji List and Jutarnji List Boskovski
stresses he is not on the run. He says he will ask for Croatia's help
to resolve his case and that he will return to Macedonia to prove his
innocence.
The Croatian Interior Ministry yesterday confirmed receiving the
Interpol warrant for Boskovski, who also has Croatian citizenship. The
ministry said the Croatian citizenship and legal procedure prevented
it from arresting him since the ministry could not act until
Macedonian authorities turned over the prosecution to Croatia.
Spokesman Zlatko Mehun said yesterday the ministry did not know
Boskovski's whereabouts.
Boskovski was granted Croatian citizenship in 1993 after marrying a
Croatian. He lived in Croatia for more than 20 years and took part in
the Homeland War.
Macedonia's parliament stripped Boskovski of immunity on Wednesday.
The country's prosecutor's office demanded that he be stripped of
immunity because of the dual citizenship, so that he could be arrested
at once instead of fleeing to Croatia which, it was said, would likely
refuse to extradite him.
Four members of a Macedonian special police unit and their commander
have already been arrested for the murder of six Pakistanis and one
Indian.
(Hina) ha