- SKOPJE -- Police in Macedonia
said yesterday that the killing of seven alleged terrorists two years ago
was staged to win US support and that the victims were simply illegal immigrants.
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- Mirjana Konteska, a police spokeswoman, said that six
people, including three former police commanders, two special police officers
and a businessman, have been charged with murder. "That was an act
of a sick mind," she said. "They ordered the brutal murder of
seven Pakistani men."
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- The killings were carried out in March 2002 by special
police who claimed to have eliminated a terrorist group plotting to attack
embassies and representatives in Macedonia. The spokeswoman said that the
seven victims had been lured into Macedonia with promises that they would
be transferred to Western Europe. They were taken by police to the Rastanski
Lozja area, which is north-east of the capital Skopje, where they were
encircled and shot by special officers using automatic weapons.
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- "They lost their lives in a staged murder,"
she said. There was no immediate comment from international officials in
Macedonia. Western representatives in the country had demanded an investigation.
Macedonia has been a close US ally in the Balkans and has supported the
war on terrorism.
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- Also facing possible charges in connection with the case
is the former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski, who was chief of police
at the time. He is likely to be charged if parliament revokes the immunity
from prosecution he enjoys as a deputy.
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- He denied the allegations, telling reporters that he
and his associates were tipped off about the alleged terrorists by unidentified
American intelligence officers. If found guilty, the suspects could face
from 10 years to life in prison.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=517023
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