Police investigate shootout involving prominent ethnic Albanian

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - In a case that could have serious repercussions throughout Kosovo, U.N. police are investigating a shootout in which a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander-turned-politician was wounded.

Ramush Haradinaj was taken to the U.S. military hospital at Camp Bondsteel following Friday's shooting in the western village of Streoce. Haradinaj's condition was stable, NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Slaten said, and a statement from a hospital said he was ''resting comfortably.''

Wildly conflicting versions of what happened to Haradinaj circulated through Pristina, the capital of this southern Serbian province. Police and the NATO-led peacekeeping command refused to provide details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Haradinaj's political party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, said initially that he and a relative were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade as they traveled early Friday near Streoce. However, in an interview with Associated Press Television News, a man allied with Haradinaj's political rivals claimed Haradinaj and his followers attacked his home about 1 a.m. and that the politician was wounded in the exchange.

The man whose home allegedly was attacked is Sadik Musa, whose family supports a party that opposes Haradinaj. Ethnic Albanian political sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the shooting started when an argument erupted during a meeting over the fate of Musa's brother.

Haradinaj was a leading commander in the ethnic Albanian guerrilla army during Kosovo's long conflict with the Serb government. Musa's brother, a member of a rival guerrilla unit, was reportedly arrested by Haradinaj's troops during the conflict.

An international mission has been trying to keep the peace here since NATO bombing forced Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's troops to withdraw last year. Milosevic had launched an 18-month crackdown against separatists in the heavily ethnic Albanian province.

Friday's incident is potentially explosive for both the international mission and for Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership. Haradinaj's party plans to contest local elections set for October.

Musa claims the incident occurred because his family supports the Democratic League of Kosovo, led by moderate Ibrahim Rugova. If true, that raises concern about political violence in the run-up to the election.

U.N. police said no one had been arrested in the case as of Saturday, and the few details released by the NATO-led Kosovo Force raised more questions than they answered.

A terse statement released Friday said Haradinaj was flown aboard an Italian helicopter to Camp Bondsteel at 2:30 p.m. Friday after he ''requested medical attention earlier in the day.''

There was no explanation why, despite wounds, Haradinaj was transported to the hospital about 13 hours after the shootout reportedly occurred.