The struggle of Ali Kadriu to rebuild his home and go back has come to some sort of conclusion yesterday after a week of obstacles.

Ali's two houses are located in the Suhodoll village outside Mitrovica, which has become a microcosm of the city itself split between the Albanian and Serbian part.

Ali was told by UNMIK authorities in Mitrovica that he needed permission to reconstruct his home, which was partially burnt during the Kosovo war, "because of the sensitive nature of the location." However, the closest Serb home is 1.5 km away and the local leaders say that such a rule applies only to new construction, not to existing homes.

A similar incident happened during the summer with the construction of the water pipe, which had to be rerouted around the Serb part of the village in order to satisfy the complaints of its Serb citizens. UNMIK says that there "needs to be sustainable return," apparently referring to the violent reaction of the local Serbs which attacked Ali and his construction workers the first day he started working on the house with gun shots heard nearby.

UNMIK also says that Ali needs to get permission from the Serbs of the village, something that Ali and others adamantly oppose.

Serb government, in a concerted effort to buy out Albanian-owned properties in Serb-dominated northern Mitrovica, has offered to pay EUR 1.2 million for his two massive houses, but Ali refuses.

Ali's brother Kadriu Kadriu, a popular painter in Kosovo, was massacred during the war along with his two cousins. Since the end of the war, Ali’s family continues to rent a home in Kastriot, in central Kosovo.

When he insisted in reconstructing his him home, Pakistani UNMIK police in riot gear prevented him from approaching his home by encircling it. Ali, who is in his 60's, was taken to the police station where he was held for four hours and threatened again if he did not go away.

Acting Kosovo Ombudsperson Hilmi Jashari has accused UNMIK authorities saying, "Obstacles put on Ali Kadriu are a gross violation of the European Convention for the protection of the basic human rights and freedoms." According to Jashari, it is nonsense the justification that home reconstruction endangers security. "It is the duty of the authorities to offer him security, and not stop him because of security."

Jashari says that he intends to formally investigate the incident.

For the time being Ali and one worker is allowed to work on the house meanwhile all parties wait for the return of UNMIK chief to decide on the fate of other Albanian returnees and homes in the Kroi i Vitakut neighborhood in Suhodoll.