* Ceku wanted in Serbia on war crime charges * Bulgarian court to decide on release * Kosovo calls for Ceku's release (Adds court decision expected on Thursday, paragraph 4) SOFIA, June 24 (Reuters) - Prosecutors said on Wednesday former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, wanted in Serbia on war crime charges, would stay in custody in Bulgaria for 72 hours while Sofia decided whether to extradite or release him. Bulgarian police arrested Ceku at the border with Macedonia on Tuesday evening on an Interpol arrest warrant requested by Serbia in 2002. Sofia was awaiting documents from Interpol and would decide how to proceed by Friday, Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev told reporters. His spokesman later said that a court in the southwestern town of Kyustendil, where Ceku was held, would decide on Thursday whether to release him. Bulgarian deputy Foreign Minister Lyubomir Kyuchukov told national radio he expected Ceku to be freed. Serbia indicted Ceku, a former top commander of Kosovo Albanian fighters during the 1998-1999 war, and some other Kosovo leaders, including current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, on suspicion of committing crimes against Serbs. Serbia's Justice Ministry said on Wednesday it filed a request to Sofia for extradition of Ceku, Tanjug news agency reported. "I hope that Bulgaria will promptly act upon our request and that the answer will be positive," Justice Minister Snezana Malovic was quoted as saying by Tanjug. The Kosovo government called on Bulgaria, other countries and international organisations to ignore Serbia's request. "Serbia has lost the right to control the movements of Kosovars long ago, so this arrest is simply unacceptable," the government in Pristina said in a statement. "Once again, we call on the international organizations that deal with these matters to stop following these outdated and purely political warrants that come from the time of (former Yugoslav President) Slobodan Milosevic." Ceku was invited to Bulgaria by former foreign minister Solomon Passy. Passy told local media Ceku was involved in an initiative helping Kosovo move closer to joining NATO. This is the fourth time Ceku has been arrested, but on earlier occasions authorities in Slovenia and Hungary did not hand him over to Belgrade. Last month, Ceku left Colombia following an expulsion order from the local security agency after Serbian authorities asked their Colombian counterparts to arrest him. Kosovo's Albanian majority, backed by Western countries, declared independence in 2008 and was recognised by 60 countries including Bulgaria. Serbia has said it will never recognise an independent Kosovo. (Reporting by Anna Mudeva, Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina; Editing by Jon Boyle)
The sun sets over a beach during a hot summer day in Radhime near the city of Vlore, some 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana, June 18, 2009. ...
