PRISTINA, March 15: President Ibrahim Rugova escaped unhurt on Tuesday when a blast rocked his car, raising tension in Kosovo a week after its guerrilla-hero premier quit to face war crimes charges.

A police source said the explosion in a garbage container was detonated remotely. The armoured rear window of the Kosovo Albanian leader?s vehicle was shattered but not pierced.

A senior NATO source said the blast was likely a warning.

?Whoever committed this was either stupid, in not thinking he?d be in an armoured car, or has done it to show there could be a next time, and the blast could be stronger,? he said.

There was no immediate clue as to who may have planted the device or why, and no claim of responsibility. Speculation focused on political rivalries between former guerrillas.

?What happened ... shows that unfortunately there are still bad elements that want to destabilise Kosovo,? Mr Rugova said after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Solana said it was ?the kind of act that cannot be tolerated, and it will not be tolerated?.

Mr Rugova?s private villa in Pristina was targeted in March 2004 when a hand grenade exploded in the garden, and members of his party have been killed in past incidents.

His talks with Solana centred on forming a new coalition to replace that led by former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.?Reuters