Kosovo Police Thwart Christmas Car Bomb

Kosovo authorities said Friday a potential car bombing was thwarted in Pristina on Christmas day when police stopped a Serbian in a vehicle packed with a large quantity of explosives.

Interior Minister Skender Hyseni said in a statement that police had seized more than 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) of explosives Thursday, and noted had they been "detonated in a public place, human casualties would have been enormous."

Police spokesman Baki Kelani told reporters the car was "filled with a huge quantity of explosive material," and was stopped late Thursday while being driven through a residential area in the capital that houses many embassies and diplomats.

A high-level police official involved in the probe who asked not to be named told Agence France-Presse that the explosive "could be ignited remotely," and is "of a type and quantity suitable for the destruction of large objects." 

Kosovo's prosecutor has launched a probe into what is being considered a plotted "terrorist attack."

Hyseni said in his statement the car's driver "is a citizen of Serbia...with permanent residence in Belgrade, and (carrying) Belgrade license plates on his car." 

The driver -- born in 1968 and identified only by the initials S.G. -- was immediately arrested, Kelani said. 

Police refused to speculate on the intended target.

Local media said a possible target could have been the Catholic cathedral the city center close the the arrest site, which was packed with hundreds of Christmas day worshipers.