Kotor

Montenegrin police have launched night-time patrols, raids and security checks on the streets of Podgorica after a series of car bombs and attempted murders in the capital as a result of clashes between rival drug gangs.

In the latest violence related to drug clans clashes in the Montenegrin resort of Kotor, a jailed alleged drugs gang member was killed by an unknown sniper while outdoors in the yard of the high security state prison in Podgorica on Thursday evening.

Kotor's mayor, Aleksandar Stjepcevic, urged the authorities to stop the violence in the Adriatic resort "as soon as possible" after a bomb blast killed two alleged members of drug gangs on Monday.

Goran Biskupovic, 28, an alleged member of the Skaljari gang, was killed when the bomb planted near his home in Muo neighborhood exploded. The blast also killed Milos Bosnjak, 25.

The Interior Ministry has warned that the situation in Kotor is "alarming" after violence between criminal gangs caused it to deploy anti-terrorist officers to the coastal town on Monday.

The authorities fear that the violence could jeopardise the tourist season in Kotor, which is visited each year by thousands of foreign tourists on luxury cruise ships.

A WWII Nazi concentration camp on the island of Mamula where prisoners were tortured and starved will be transformed into a luxury resort which will include a nightclub and spa.

The island is located near Montenegro’s border with Croatia in the Adriatic Sea at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor. Its formal name is Lastavica, but it is widely known as Mamula.

A plan to build a cable car that will transport people from the town of Kotor on the coast up the mountains to the old capital of Cetinje may finally be realised if the Montenegrin government can find the right international partners.

The route will link the Adriatic coastline with Mt Lovcen, the highest peak in the country.

Montenegro's Centre for Underwater Demining on Monday said explosive devices were still being thrown into the sea, posing a general danger to swimmers, divers and many others.

The appeal came de-miners found a number of unexploded bombs off shore in the bay near the resort towns of Kotor and Tivat on Monday.

A teenager in Montenegro's town of Kotor whose photo published in the school paper was edited to remove an anti-NATO message has received an apology.

The Kotor Gymnasium Director Bozo Perovic apologized to Vanja Jotic and his parents, the Podgorica-based daily Vijesti is reporting.

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday refused to support government plans to lease out the island of Lastavica and the Mamula fort in Boka Bay, which opposition parties have slated as a corrupt deal.

The proposal to offer the Austro-Hungarian fortress to a private firm to turn into a luxury tourist complex received the support of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists.

The plan to build the cable-car route from Kotor to Cetinje over Lovcen Mountain, originally initiated several decades ago, could finally be realised if the Montenegrin government finds international partners for the construction of the route which will link the coastline and the highest mountain peak in the country.