Manhunt after leading Kosovo Serb politician gunned down
Oliver Ivanovic
Assailants opened fire on  Oliver Ivanovic   64  close to the offices of his political party in the Serb-controlled northern city of Mitrovica. He was taken to a hospital but doctors were unable to save him.
The doctors said  Ivanovic  had received at least five gunshot wounds to his upper torso. The assailants escaped in a car that was later found burned out. Kosovo police sealed off the area of the shooting and began a manhunt for the attackers.
 Ivanovic  was one of the key politicians in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo  a former Serbian province where tensions still remain high a decade after  it  declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize that independence.
 Ivanovic  was considered a moderate who maintained relations with NATO and EU officials even after Serbia lost the control of its former province following NATO's 1999 bombing to stop a deadly Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.
 Ivanovic   who was married with three children  had enemies both among Kosovo Albanians and nationalist Serbs because of his moderate policies.
A Kosovo court had convicted  Ivanovic  of war crimes during the 1998-99 war. That verdict was overturned and a retrial was underway.
FILE - In this Oct. 23  2004 file photo   Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic  casts  his  ballot during general elections in the Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica  Kosovo.  64-year old Ivanovic  has died from wounds after being shot by unknown assailants Tuesday Jan. 16  2018  according to a statement from  his  lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic  File)
Police officers secure the scene where unknown assailants opened fire and killed  Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic  in front of  his  office in the northern  Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica  Kosovo  Tuesday  Jan. 16  2018. The Kosovo government has strongly denounced the slaying of a leading Serb politician in northern Mitrovica and says it considers it to be a challenge to "the rule of law". (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
Assailants opened fire on  [TGT] .  [TGT]  was taken to a hospital but doctors were unable to save  [TGT] .
The doctors said   [TGT] had received at least five gunshot wounds to  [TGT]  upper torso. The assailants escaped in a car that was later found burned out. Kosovo police sealed off the area of the shooting and began a manhunt for the attackers.
  [TGT] was one of the key politicians in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo  a former Serbian province where tensions still remain high a decade after  it  declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize that independence.
  [TGT] was considered a moderate who maintained relations with NATO and EU officials even after Serbia lost the control of its former province following NATO's 1999 bombing to stop a deadly Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.
 Ivanovic   who was married with three children  had enemies both among Kosovo Albanians and nationalist Serbs because of his moderate policies.
A Kosovo court had convicted  Ivanovic  of war crimes during the 1998-99 war. That verdict was overturned and a retrial was underway.
FILE - In this Oct. 23  2004 file photo   Kosovo Serb politician  [TGT] casts   [TGT]   ballot during general elections in the Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica  Kosovo.   [TGT] has died from wounds after being shot by unknown assailants Tuesday Jan. 16  2018  according to a statement from  his  lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic  File)
Police officers secure the scene where unknown assailants opened fire and killed   [TGT] in front of   [TGT]   office in the northern  Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica  Kosovo  Tuesday  Jan. 16  2018. The Kosovo government has strongly denounced the slaying of a leading Serb politician in northern Mitrovica and says it considers it to be a challenge to "the rule of law". (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)