Ivanovic Murder Suspect: 'Kosovo Police Want Me Dead'

A statement believed to have been posted on Facebook by Milan Radoicic, a businessman widely seen as the real power-holder in Serb-majority northern Kosovo, who is wanted in connection with the murder of politician Oliver Ivanovic, said the ultimate goal of a police raid on his home last week was to kill him.

"They came to my apartment where I live with my wife and little children, with an army of people armed to the teeth, with only one aim - to kill me," said the statement attributed to Radoicic posted on the main Kosovo Serb political party Srpska Lista's official Facebook page on Sunday.

There is a warrant out for the arrest of Radoicic and he has been on the run since the raid by Kosovo police on Friday. Three other people were arrested in the same operation on suspicion of involvement in killing Ivanovic.

In the Facebook statement, Radoicic, who is deputy president of Srpska Lista, admitted that he "was not the closest friend of Oliver Ivanovic".

But he denied that he had anything to do with Ivanovic's murder, calling it a "heinous and criminal attack".

Ivanovic was shot in front of his political party's headquarters in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica in January.

Before his death, he said he considered Radoicic to be the key figure in what he alleged was an intimidatory system of power in Serb-majority northern Kosovo. Radoicic has not commented on this allegation.

The Facebook statement attributed to Radoicic said that he was being persecuted for standing up for Kosovo Serbs.

"Pristina wants to remove me because they know that together with my friends and brothers, I am one of the few people willing to stand up to their intention of trampling upon and conquering the north of Kosovo and Metohija," the statement...