MACEDONIA: POLICE CHIEF KILLED IN FIREFIGHT WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000736

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC MK PGOV PREL KV
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: POLICE CHIEF KILLED IN FIREFIGHT WITH
FUGITIVE NEAR KOSOVO BORDER


SUMMARY



1. (SBU) A local police station chief was killed, and two of
his colleagues wounded,
in a September 10 firefight with an ethnic Albanian fugitive
and his accomplices near
the village of Vaksince, near the Kosovo border. It is not
clear whether the fugitive
and his accomplices ambushed the police, or whether the
incident developed out of a
botched police attempt to arrest the fugitive, who is wanted
on murder charges and
and charges of threatening Prime Minister Gruevski. The
fugitive, who was
wounded in the firefight and whose brother was killed during
the incident,
is in a Pristina hospital under KPS guard. Both UNMIK and
the KPS are coordinating with
Macedonian authorities to effect his eventual return to face
justice in Macedonia.
We will continue to convey to the MOI the need to act with
restraint in dealing
with the residents of Vaksince as they pursue an
investigation into the incident.
End summary.


POLICE STATION COMMANDER KILLED IN FIREFIGHT WITH FUGITIVE


2. (SBU) MOI Director of Police Todorovski informed our DOJ
rep September 10 that the ethnic Albanian police station
commander of the village of Matejce had been killed -- and
two other police officers wounded -- during a firefight early
that morning with an ethnic Albanian fugitive, Zaim Halili,
and several accomplices near the town of Vaksince, close to
the Kosovo border. According to Todorovski, Halili (the
nephew of Xhemail Hiseni, aka Commander Jamie Shea, who was
recently rearrested after escaping from Idrizovo prison) was
wounded in the stomach and leg, but escaped to Kosovo. An
accomplice, Skender Halili (Zaim Halili's brother) was also
killed in the firefight, as confirmed by OSCE and Halili's
family. The MOI also reports that another accomplice,
Xheladin Hiseni, a relative of Xhemail Hiseni, was killed,
but that claim has not been confirmed.

3. (SBU) Later reports from UNMIK indicated that Halili or an
accomplice contacted UNMIK for urgent medical aid, and was
transported for treatment to a hospital in Pristina in an
ambulance summoned by UNMIK personnel. He currently is under
KPS guard at the hospital. The KPS and UNMIK are working
with Macedonian authorities to return Halili, once he
recovers, to Macedonia, where there is an international
warrant for his arrest on attempted murder charges unrelated
to the September 10 firefight. MOI officials are preparing a
second warrant for his arrest on charges in the September 10
incident.

AMBUSHED POLICE PATROL? OR ACTION TO ARREST HALILI?


4. (SBU) According to the MOI, the police chief and his
partners were sitting in their patrol car during a routine
patrol of the Vaksince area shortly after midnight on
September 10. A vehicle approached the police car, passed
it, then halted. The car then reversed direction and, as it
approached the police vehicle, the occupants opened fire on
the police. The police chief exited the vehicle and returned
fire. During the ensuing gun battle, the police chief and
Skender Halili were killed; the two other police officers,
both ethnic Macedonians, were wounded. An OSCE field monitor
who examined the car in which Halili and his accomplices had
been riding reported "some 50 or more bullet entry/exit
points" in the vehicle.


5. (SBU) Contradicting the MOI version of events, both the
Mayor of Lipkovo (from the ethnic Albanian opposition DUI
party) and DUI leaders claimed to international community
representatives that Halili was shot when police opened fire
during an operation to arrest him. NOTE: Halili was also
wanted in Macedonia for threatening to abduct the Prime

SKOPJE 00000736 002 OF 002


Minister and to kill DPA President Menduh Thaci following the
successful police operation in which his uncle Xhemail Hiseni
was recaptured after escaping from Idrizovo prison. END
NOTE.

NEXT STEPS


6. (SBU) Later in the day on September 10, police cordoned
off the village of Vaksince in an attempt to secure evidence
at the scene of the crime. OSCE field staff, however,
reported that villagers there would not allow police to enter
the area, and the MOI told us that Skender Halili's family
refused to release the vehicle to the MOI for forensics
testing, despite an appeal from the ethnic Albanian Deputy
MOI. The MOI is now seeking OSCE's assistance in persuading
the family to release the vehicle.


COMMENT



7. (SBU) For now, it is not clear whether the firefight was
the result of an intentional ambush by Halili and his
accomplices against the police patrol, a chance encounter
that erupted into gunfire, or a police operation against
Halili gone bad. With tempers in Vaksince flaring over the
death of Skender Halili, we have stressed to the MOI the
importance of acting with restraint in the coming days to
avoid an escalation of the violence. We will continue to
convey that message to our MOI counterparts, while supporting
the eventual return of Halili to Macedonia to face justice in
the police chief's death. End Comment.
NAVRATIL