European police in Kosovo Tuesday raided four companies over allegations of corruption in connection with multi-million-euro road building projects, officials said.

Searches were conducted of four companies in different locations in Kosovo, including the capital and the cities of Pec and Prizren, the European rule of law mission, also known as EULEX, said in a statement.

They are “in the context of an ongoing investigation related to a suspicious tender involving the ministry of transport and telecommunication,” it said.

EULEX, which can carry out probes that are too sensitive for Kosovo’s own judiciary, started a probe last April into the role of the transportation and telecommunication ministry in road construction deals over past three years.

Its police carried out searches in the ministry as well as the home of Transport Minister Fatmir Limaj, a close ally of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

The results of the probe haven’t been revealed.

Limaj was a commander of ethnic Albanian guerrilla which fought Serbian security forces in the 1998-99 war. He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes but later cleared.

Kosovo declared independence in February 2008 and despite Serbia’s opposition is recognized by 72 countries.

January 18, 2011
AFP

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