Serb warrant for British-born businessman

Police issued a search warrant today for a British-born former executive of Serbia-Montenegro’s main mobile phone provider, Mobtel, after he allegedly ignored an information request on a deal with a Kosovo telecom.

Patrick Harpur, who was managing director from mid-2003 until last week, had declined to give information to investigators about a 2003 agreement under which Mobtel sold its rights for Kosovo to a company in the province, police said.

The government last week revoked Mobtel’s license over the allegedly illegal contract with the Kosovo company, Mobikos, and removed the company’s management from their posts.

It declared the 2003 deal illegal, saying the Belgrade-based provider had violated regulations and ”jeopardised national security” by selling part of its license without asking for necessary government permission.

The government also claimed that introducing Mobikos into Mobtel’s network enabled “any number of unauthorised persons” to tap into mobile phone conversations in the southern region.

Kosovo has been run by United Nations and NATO since 1999, when Serbia’s military campaign against ethnic Albanian separatists was halted by NATO bombing. Talks on a final status for Kosovo are expected this year.

Mobtel was co-founded by controversial Serbian millionaire Bogoljub Karic and Serbia’s state-run PTT telephone company.

They are locked in a dispute over who owns the majority share, to be resolved through international arbitration in Switzerland.

There was no immediate comment from Harpur or Mobtel. Serbian authorities have appointed Telekom – rival and partly state-run mobile phone provider – to manage Mobtel until the issues are resolved.