NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo (KFOR) early on Saturday successfully removed an explosive planted under a UN car in the main street of the capital Pristina, police said.

"The explosive was removed at ten minutes after midnight by KFOR specialists. We still don't know what kind of explosive it was," Refki Morina, a police spokesman told AFP.

"The explosive was planted under a UN car parked in the Ministry of Culture compound," he said, adding the operation had lasted more than four hours. "We had to evacuate not only offices but all apartments around."
The operation to remove the explosive in the main Mother Teresa street in Pristina was carried out by KFOR's special anti-terrorist unit. The centre of the capital was completely blocked and secured by police during the operation.

Police even interrupted a movie premiere in the cinema near the Culture Ministry attended by Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi.

Albanian-dominated Kosovo came under UN and NATO control in June 1999 after the alliance bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days in a bid to end Serb forces brutal crackdown on separatist Albanians.

PHOTO CAPTION

Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova in Kosovo's capital Pristina September 14, 2005. (REUTERS)