Balkans: March 12, 2004

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There was an attempted assassination of Kosovos President Ibrahmi Rugova. A grenade was thrown from a passing vehicle into the front yard of Rugovas home. Rugova was not injured. Rugova is constantly threatened by hard-line Albanian Kosovar ethnic rebels. Rugova was declared persona non grata by the Yugoslav government and later by Slobodan Milosevics Serbian regime. The attack occurred during a series of Serb and ethnic Albanian discussions about the ultimate status of Kosovo. Kosovo now functions as a UN protectorate, but is still nominally part of Serbia. Most Albanian Kosovars prefer an independent Kosovo.