Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SKOPJE415
2007-05-25 13:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:  

MACEDONIA: POLICE RAID IN TANUSEVCI -- NO REPEAT

Tags:  PREL PGOV MK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6786
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RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSQ #0415/01 1451353
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251353Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6099
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3678
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 2100
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA PRIORITY 4291
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL PRIORITY
RUESEN/SKOPJEBETA PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000415 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLICE RAID IN TANUSEVCI -- NO REPEAT
OF 2001


SUMMARY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000415

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLICE RAID IN TANUSEVCI -- NO REPEAT
OF 2001


SUMMARY


1. (SBU) Early in the morning of May 23, Macedonian police
raided several houses in the rural village of Tanusevci,
north of Skopje on the Kosovo-Macedonia border, in an
operation aimed at uncovering an illegal arms cache. The
raid netted only a few rifles but briefly revived ghosts from
Macedonia's 2001 inter-ethnic conflict, which began in
Tanusevci. We believe this was a routine police operation,
and is unlikely to stir the kinds of political passions that
were awakened following developments in Tanusevci in 2001.
End summary.

MEDIA REPORTS ON TANUSEVCI OPERATION


2. (U) Macedonian local media on May 23 carried reports that,
early that same morning, Macedonian police raided two houses
in the village of Tanusevci, just north of Skopje and across
the border from Kosovo's Debelde municipality, in a search
for an illegal arms cache. The search reportedly yielded one
automatic rifle, one semi-automatic rifle, and some
ammunition. Electronic media coverage of the raid showed
some footage of an eAlbanian woman from Tanusevci who
allegedly went into shock after the police actions. As the
police were leaving the village, they reportedly heard shots
which came either from the village or from the Kosovo side of
the border.

POLICE CHIEF DEBRIEF ON POLICE COUNTER-SMUGGLING OPERATION


3. (SBU) Given historical sensitivities related to Tanusevci,
where the 2001 inter-ethnic conflict began, PolOff met with
Macedonian Director of Police Todorovski on May 25 for a
debrief on the police action. Todorovski said he had given
the order for the Tanusevci raid on May 22, based on reports
he had received from Deputy Minister of Interior Refet
Elmazi, an eAlbanian. Elmazi claimed he had information
suggesting there were large stacks of weapons in two remote,
unoccupied houses on the outskirts of Tanusevci.


4. (SBU) Todorovski said that, shortly before 0600 hours on
May 23, a combined team of around 90 eAlbanian and
eMacedonian police officers from the MOI's Illegal Trade and
Smuggling Department, the Alfa Special Forces, and the Rapid
Reaction Force, surrounded the two houses. The police
discovered only two rifles, one handgun, and a large quantity
of ammunition in one of the houses. The owner of the house,

Refik Senani, was questioned and sent home. He likely will
face trial for possession of illegal weapons. Todorovski
stressed that eAlbanian policemen had been the first on the
scene and that, contrary to some press reports, there had
been no women or children in the vicinity of the raid.

SHOTS FIRED IN ANGER?


5. (SBU) Todorovski acknowledged that the police had been
fired on by villagers believed to be connected to former
National Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament and
National Liberation Army (NLA) army commander, Xhezair
Shaqiri. Even though the police raid targeted an organized
smuggling ring, Todorovski believes that Shaqiri's people
fired at the police in the belief that the law enforcement
officers were in Tanusevci to arrest a fugitive from justice
who was under Shaqiri's protection. He said that, according
to his informants in Tanusevci, the shooters were a group of
seven local men and about 10 Kosovar Albanian males, most of
them regular smugglers who operate across the
Kosovo-Macedonia border. Todorovski assured PolOff that
mixed police patrols have not experienced problems with
regular access to the village in the past. He added that the
majority of Tanusevci's inhabitants do not support the
activities of the smugglers.

"EYE WITNESS" ACCOUNTS GIVEN TO OSCE


6. (SBU) Interviews conducted by an OSCE team that visited
Tanusevci hours after the raid painted a picture at odds with
that of the Director of Police. According to the villagers,
300-400 Special Forces police had stormed the village and
harassed around 20 eAlbanian villagers who lived in the two

SKOPJE 00000415 002 OF 002


houses. At the end of the operation, according to
ex-guerrilla commander Xhezair Shaqiri, who was not in the
village during the raid, the villagers exchanged fire with
the police and "drove them out, head over heels."

COMMENT


7. (SBU) The police raid in Tanusevci stirred up memories of
2001, since that is where fighting broke out that erupted
into inter-ethnic conflict that year. Linked directly to
Kosovo, Tanusevci was an important NLA stronghold in the 2001
conflict, and saw the abduction of a Macedonian TV crew and
the killing of the first Macedonian victim of the conflict, a
police officer. Since then, however, the village has
developed a reputation for smuggling and illegal connections
to Kosovo, which the government is concerned about. We
believe this was a routine but largely unsuccessful police
operation. The police action is unlikely to stir up the
political passions that heated up after developments in
Tanusevci in 2001, however, especially given the commitment
of all major eAlbanian parties to non-violent participation
in the political system.
WOHLERS