A younger brother of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj was shot dead on Friday in an apparent family dispute, a source in the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force told Reuters.

Enver Haradinaj, a student, was shot between the villages of Raushiq and Lubenic, and the reason for the shooting was likely a dispute with other prominent local families, the source said.

"It looks like a family dispute...it is not politically motivated," the source added.

Ramush Haradinaj, a former guerrilla commander, resigned and surrendered to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague in early March on charges of war crimes against civilians during the ethnic Albanian insurgency in the province in 1998-99.

Enver also fought alongside Ramush while in his late teens.

The murder of Enver Haradinaj was criticized sharply by all political players in Kosovo. The murder was most vehemently condemned by Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, the Kosovo Protection Corps and all Kosovo political parties, as well as the organizations that emerged from the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army - UCK in Albanian].

Enver Haradinaj is the third brother of former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, who is currently in the Hague tribunal detention unit, to have been killed.

Two other brothers, Shkelzen and Luan, were killed during the clashes in Kosovo. They were senior officers of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Haradinaj has two more brothers. Daut is serving a prison sentence in Dubrava near Istok. His youngest brother Frasher is a secondary school student.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Kosovo police officer inspects the scene where Enver Haradinaj (R) was gunned down, Pristina, on Friday, April 15, 2005. (AP)