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Figures for the number of wounded vary, but hospital officials say at least six Serb protesters and four NATO soldiers were injured. The Alliance's representative in Kosovo, Kai Gudenoge, said Serb protesters threw pipe bombs at troops stationed along the border between Serbia and Kosovo. One soldier had to be evacuated for treatment due to the gravity of his injuries. Three others are being treated locally.
According to Serbian-Canadian documentary filmmaker Boris Malagursky, KFOR's efforts did not stop with rubber bullets and tear gas.
"At the moment, German KFOR soldiers are putting barbed wire around entire Serbian communities, turning them essentially into ghettos," Malagursky told RT. "And the last time we saw German soldiers setting up barbed wire was during the World War II."
"NATO is not really contributing to the peaceful resolution of the problem," Malagursky argued. "They are simply pushing ahead with their interests in North Kosovo, which are mainly economic, while the Serbs are pushed to accept everything the international community thinks is important in regard to Kosovo."
The conflict resulted in the death of a policeman. Now, neither side wants to take action for fear it could once again ignite tension.
Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008 with the support of the US and some EU countries. But Serbia and northern parts of Kosovo, as well as Russia, China and some other states, do not recognize its mandate.
KOSOVO: NUEVOS CHOQUES ENTRE SERBIOS Y TROPAS DE OTAN
En la región de Kosovo se han registrado nuevos enfrentamientos entre la población serbia y las fuerzas de la OTAN.
Según oficiales de la OTAN, los militares utilizaron gases lacrimógenos y balas de goma contra los manifestantes. Los disturbios dejaron cuatro soldados y siete civiles heridos.
Los choques tuvieron lugar después de que las tropas internacionales intentaron desmantelar las barricadas que levantaron los serbios de Kosovo cerca de un puesto de control.
El cineasta serbio Boris Malagurski señala que se trata de una lucha de los locales por sus vidas ya que no tienen otra opción y no descarta una nueva ola de violencia.
"Se observa una escalada de tensión en la situación en Kosovo, con los soldados alemanes de la fuerza internacional de la OTAN tratando de aislar a la comunidad y convertirla en una especie de gueto. En este mundo unipolar los serbios esperan que alguien llegue a su rescate, porque en la actualidad la Alianza no contribuye realmente a la resolución del problema. Simplemente abre el camino a sus intereses, principalmente económicos, en Kosovo del Norte", asegura Malagurski.
Compiled and edited by Rick Rozoff
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7119
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7151
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7157
ADN Kronos International - September 27, 2011
Kosovo: NATO removes roadblocks, Serbs erect new ones as tensions rise
Belgrade: Nato forces stationed in Kosovo began removing barricades in northern Kosovo overnight and local Serbs erected new ones as tensions flared again Tuesday at one of two border crossings at the centre of a two-month-old dispute.
Nato's KFOR force used teargas to disperse local Serbs holding a vigil at the roadblocks and arrested several people at the Jarinje border crossing with Serbia. One man had to be treated in hospital for his injuries, Serbian media reported.
The crisis broke out two months ago when Kosovo's ethnic Albanian dominated government sent special police and customs officers to take over two border crossings with Serbia, Brnjak and Jarinje, amid a trade dispute.
Belgrade opposes Kosovo's independence, declared by majority Albanians in 2008 and local Serbs, who form the majority of the population in the north, don’t recognise Pristina's authority and object to Kosovo police and customs officers being placed at border crossings with Serbia.
A local Serb leader Branko Ninic said KFOR blocked all local roads in the north, cutting off several villages and making it impossible for people to reach work and children to go to school. Serbian television said the situation was tense with sirens sounding in the northern town of Leposavic early Tuesday and local Serbs massing at the disputed border crossings.
Ninic described KFOR's action as “another provocation” ahead of a new round of European Union-sponsored talks between Belgrade and Pristina which were due to resume in Brussels on Tuesday.
Belgrade has accused KFOR and the EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX) of siding with majority Albanians and of overstepping its “status neutral mandate” as defined by the United Nations Security Council.
Pristina and Belgrade negotiators reached an agreement on customs seals to be used on border crossings with Serbia, but the two sides failed to reconcile their differing interpretations of who should control the crossings.
The crisis broke out in late July when Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaci controversially sent special police to Kosovo take over two northern border crossings with Serbia from KFOR and European Union police.
Kosovo police seized the border crossings to enforce a ban on imports from Serbia. Kosovo's government imposed the ban in July in retaliation for Serbia's blocking of Kosovo imports.
Serbia is expecting to become an official candidate for EU membership in October, but EU officials have said it must first establish “good neighbourly relations” with Kosovo and resolve the crisis in the Serb-populated north.
Kosovo's independence has been recognised by more than eighty countries, including the United States and 22 out of 27 EU members so far.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/27/4-nato-peacekeepers-wounded-in-kosovo-border-fight/
Voice of America News - September 27, 2011
4 NATO Peacekeepers Wounded in Kosovo Border Fight
Four NATO peacekeepers have been wounded in a fight at a Kosovo-Serbia border crossing after weeks of tensions in the region.
Seven Serbs were also hurt in Tuesday's violence, which erupted when international forces began taking down Serb barricades at the disputed border point. Witnesses say NATO troops fired rubber bullets...at Kosovo Serbs, who threw stones toward the soldiers at the checkpoint.
Earlier this month, ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo blocked roads leading to the border to protest a decision to put Kosovo customs officials at the crossing points in Brnjak and Jarinje.
Pristina, with the support of the [NATO] peacekeepers and the European Union, has moved to extend its government control in northern Kosovo. Ethnic Serbs in that area have refused to recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence.
Belgrade considers Kosovo a part of Serbia and says it will not support the presence of Kosovo officials at the border crossings.
...
Voice of Russia/Russian Information Agency Novosti - Septembre 27, 2011
Lavrov urges compliance with UN resolution on Kosovo
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) to strictly abide by UN Security Council resolution 1244.
Meeting his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic in New York, Mr. Lavrov cautioned against moves fraught with further destabilization on the administrative border between Serbia and Kosovo.
Tension broke out in the middle of this month after the ethnic Albanian authorities of Kosovo deployed their customs and police officers at the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings with the assistance of KFOR servicemen despite fierce protests from local Serbs.
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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=27&nav_id=76572
Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency/B92 - September 27, 2011
KFOR fires at Serbs, seven injured
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Kosovska Mitrovica Health Center Director Milan Jakovljević says seven persons who were injured at the Jarinje checkpoint earlier today have been hospitalized.
According to him, six persons sustained serious injuries from live rounds and one person has been taken to the ophthalmology ward due to eye problems caused by tear gas.
“Nobody is in a life-threatening condition so far,” Jakovljević stressed.
...
Jakovljević added that shots had also been fired at the ambulance but that the medical team that had been giving medical attention to the injured Serbs had not been injured.
...
KFOR troops threw flash bombs and tear gas and fired rubber bullets at local Serbs who gathered at the Jarinje checkpoint around 13:00 CET.
U.S. KFOR troops used tear gas early on Tuesday to disperse Serbs and remove a barricade from an alternative road that leads from Jarinje to central Serbia.
Local Serbs, who spent the night at the barricades, told Beta news agency earlier on Tuesday that the troops had been brutal, that they had used tear gas and that they tied up young men who had been present.
One of them received medical attention at the Raška hospital. Four Serbs have been arrested and later released. The U.S. troops threaten to shoot anyone who comes close to the barbed wire at the Jarinje administrative checkpoint.
KFOR troops removed the barricades made of dirt and gravel.
They have also announced that starting from Tuesday morning they will arrest anyone who uses the alternative road around Jarinje. German troops arrested and soon after released two people at the alternative road around 7:00 CET on Tuesday.
An incident broke out around 10:30 CET when several citizens threw rocks at KFOR troops who responded by using tear gas. The clash quickly ended when Leposavić Mayor Branko Ninić called on the citizens to remain calm and to peacefully fight for their legitimate requests.
The night was peaceful at the other barricades in northern Kosovo.
KFOR removed a sand barricade from Jarinje last night, but Serbs who came to the administrative checkpoint in great numbers managed to set up a new barricade on the main road leading to Rudnica and kept watch at an alternative road that connects this part of Kosovo with central Serbia.
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/europe/1937542.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - September 28, 2011
Belgrade breaks off talks with Kosovo to protest violence
Serbia on Tuesday broke off talks held with Kosovo under European Union auspices to protest an operation by NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo against Serbs blocking a contested border, DPA reported.
"For the time being, the priority is the situation at border crossings, and for us no other topic exists," Serbia's chief negotiator, Borko Stefanovic, was quoted by Belgrade media as saying.
"I think in this situation it is unrealistic to talk about energy, telecommunications and regional initiatives," he said in Brussels, where he was meeting with EU mediator Robert Cooper and US representative Philip Reeker.
The seventh round since March of EU-facilitated talks between Serbia and Kosovo to resolve issues stemming from Kosovo's secession were scheduled without the disputed border crossings on the agenda.
The EU has set progress in the talks as a crucial condition for Serbia to be formally recognized as an EU membership candidate already this year. Belgrade officials had hoped that a date for the start of accession talks would be set at the same time.
The negotiations were already interrupted in July, when Serbia refused to lift a de-facto trade embargo on Kosovo goods.
That escalated into a trade war and tensions in northern Kosovo, when Pristina attempted to take control of border crossings in the north, one of few areas where Serbs outnumber ethnic Albanians.
Tensions in the area again erupted into violence on Tuesday, when NATO peacekeepers (KFOR) moved to dismantle roadblocks that the Serbs erected in their enclave in protest at their loss of control over the borders in mid-September.
KFOR sealed several "alternate" routes, which the Serbs had opened toward Serbia proper to circumvent controls at the official border crossings.
At least four peacekeepers and seven demonstrators were injured in clashes.
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20110928/167220907.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti - September 28, 2011
Russia 'disappointed' with NATO's reluctance to discuss Kosovo
BRUSSELS: Russia is upset by NATO's unwillingness to discuss the situation in Kosovo at NATO-Russia Council sessions, Russia's NATO envoy said on Wednesday.
"Russia's permanent mission to NATO is disappointed with the reluctance of its partners to discuss the situation in Kosovo at the NATO-Russia Council," Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Moscow regards the Kosovo problem as a "serious destabilizing factor in the Balkans situation, which directly affects European security," he said.
Four NATO troops and six Serb protesters were wounded in fresh violence on the disputed Serbia-Kosovo border on Tuesday.
...
Voice of Russia/Itar-Tass - September 28, 2011
KFOR attacks Kosovo Serbs
Representatives of the Serbian community in Macedonia are indignant at the groundless attack of the KFOR international security force in Kosovo against Kosovo Serbs, Ivan Stoilkovic, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, declared to the ITAR-TASS news agency on Wednesday.
“According to its status, KFOR is to remain neutral and protect citizens rather than get into conflicts with them,” he pointed out. “There can be no excuse for the outrageous behaviour of KFOR servicemen who tried to cold-bloodedly kill people only for being Serbian.”
The clash occurred at the security check-point on the administrative border between Serbia and the self-proclaimed republic. The Serbs were protesting against the Kosovo administration establishing control over the security check-point.
RT - September 28, 2011
NATO provoking another conflict in Balkans - Rogozin
The NATO peacekeeping force KFOR has sent more troops to the Serbian-Kosovo border following bloody clashes there. But as Russia’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin told RT, the alliance is creating a new conflict in the region.
"It's another mistake that NATO is making by provoking another conflict in the Balkans,” Dmitry Rogozin said.
According to witnesses, KFOR has deployed armored vehicles, sandbags and barbed wire around the Jarinje border crossing, about 100 km (60 miles) from Kosovo's capital, Pristina, on Wednesday.
“It seems my NATO colleagues don't have a clue what the consequences of their involvement in the conflict could be,” Dmitry Rogozin said. “Instead of taking a neutral position in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, they took the side of Kosovo-Albania. Basically, NATO is blocking the only road of life between the Kosovan Serbs and Serbia. It's the international peacekeepers who are involved in the civil conflict in the north of the region.”
NATO reinforced the border a day after clashes which left 16 Kosovo Serbs and four KFOR members injured.
Milan Jakovljević, the director of Kosovska Mitrovica Health Center, said six people sustained serious injuries from live rounds and one person had been taken to the ophthalmology ward due to eye problems caused by tear-gas, Serbian radio and television broadcaster B92 reported.
Both sides blame each other for starting the violence, in which rubber bullets and tear-gas were used by NATO forces.
It is believed the clashes took place when alliance peacekeeping forces tried to dismantle a roadblock set up by Serbs. NATO’s spokesperson insists that KFOR troops had fired on Serb protesters in the Mitrovica region in response to an attack by the crowd.
Meanwhile, according to Rogozin, NATO does not want to discuss the situation in Kosovo or to investigate the latest bloody accident.
“They are hiding behind formal phrases that mean nothing,” he said.
“We are witnessing outright lies about what kinds of measures have been used against the civilian population in Kosovo. We have been told that only rubber bullets and tear-gas were used. But according to the information from the hospital, all the injured have gunshot wounds. And physicians from Mitrovica complained about the bombardment of ambulances, which were transporting the wounded from the conflict zone," Rogozin told Interfax news agency.
Russia has demanded that NATO creates a commission to investigate what happened in the region.
“I have just asked for an objective investigation into what the so-called NATO peacekeepers are doing in Kosovo. But they just ignored my question,” Rogozin said. “If NATO is concerned about its reputation they should stop this immediately, become neutral again, and investigate the crimes that have taken place against the civilians in northern Kosovo,” he added.
He stressed that Russia would support and protect civilians, and would also protect decisions made by the UN Security Council.
“If they took away their newly sent force from the borders between the northern Kosovo and the rest of Serbia, then yes, I do think that the region would go back to being peaceful,” John Laughland told RT.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/09/28/56888906.html
Voice of Russia - September 28, 2011
Russia calls for discussion on Kosovo
Russia hopes the NATO contingent in Kosovo will prevent separatist violence against the Kosovo Serbs.
The Russian NATO Ambassador was speaking about this Wednesday after the Alliance refused to discuss regional instability from the Kosovo crisis on its joint council with Russia.
Two weeks ago, there were clashes and casualties after the separatist authorities seized two crossing points from Serb-populated northern Kosovo to southern Serbia.
KFOR attacks Kosovo Serbs
Representatives of the Serbian community in Macedonia are indignant at the groundless attack of the KFOR international security force in Kosovo against Kosovo Serbs, Ivan Stoilkovic, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, declared to the ITAR-TASS news agency on Wednesday.
“According to its status, KFOR is to remain neutral and protect citizens rather than get into conflicts with them," he pointed out. "There can be no excuse for the outrageous behaviour of KFOR servicemen who tried to cold-bloodedly kill people only for being Serbian.”
The clash occurred at the security check-point on the administrative border between Serbia and the self-proclaimed republic. The Serbs were protesting against the Kosovo administration establishing control over the security check-point.
The UN Security Council will meet to discuss the Kosovo issue over clashes between KFOR troops and Serbian forces.
The UN press-service says the session will be held behind closed doors.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/235813.html
Itar-Tass - September 28, 2011
Ambassador demands investigation of NATO’s firing at Kosovan Serbs
BRUSSELS: Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin has issued a demand that NATO officials investigate the incident, in which NATO forces opened fire at Kosovan Serbs near the Jarinje check-post in Kosovo.
He wrote about his demand at his Twitter microblog.
“I’ve demand an investigation of the fact of fire by NATO servicemen at Kosovan Serbs, who protested against the blocking of the administrative border between Kosovo and Serbia,” Rogozin said.
“What I’ve heard in response is apologies only,” he said. “Irresponsibility of this sort leads to a war.”
Earlier, a demand to investigate the incident was made by Serbia’s President Boris Tadic, who had a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Tuesday, KFOR servicemen made an attempt to pull down the barricades that the Kosovan Serbs had put up in front of the Jarinje check-post. They opened fire with rubber bullets and used teargas after the Serbs had thrown several stones at them.
In retaliation, the Serbs hurled a few improvised bombs at the troops.
The incident left four KFOR soldiers and seven Serbs wounded.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n260507
Focus News Agency - September 29, 2011
US condemns violence in Kosovo
Washington: The United States on Wednesday condemned what it called a "violent attack by a Serb mob" against NATO peacekeepers at a checkpoint in northern Kosovo, calling for calm from Pristina and Belgrade, AFP reported.
The State Department said that nine members of the alliance's KFOR peacekeeping force were injured in Tuesday's incident on the disputed border. An earlier toll said four peacekeepers were hurt.
"The United States condemns the violent attack by a Serb mob against the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) on September 27th," it said in a statement.
"We encourage the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to remain committed to the EU-facilitated dialogue process, to encourage calm, and to find agreements that improve the lives of the ordinary citizens in both countries," it said.
Those talks - the latest round in a six-month bid by the European Union to help settle friction between the two neighbors - were shelved on Wednesday.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110929/167243844.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti - September 29, 2011
UN Security Council fails to agree on Northern Kosovo
SARAJEVO: Member states of the UN Security Council failed to find a common approach to the situation in Northern Kosovo, the Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency said on Thursday.
At Russia's request, the Security Council gathered for emergency consultations in New York late on Wednesday to discuss the recent flare-up of tension in Kosovo.
Four NATO soldiers and seven Serb protesters were wounded on Tuesday in clashes between locals and the military at the disputed Kosovo northern border crossing with Serbia known as Jarinje. The incident disrupted a regular round of consultations between Belgrade and Pristina.
"Most UN Security Council members showed they understood the severity of the situation [in Kosovo]," diplomatic sources told Tanjug.
Western countries in the UN Security Council believe the situation in northern Kosovo is under control, and the EULEX and KFOR security forces are acting in line with their UN mandate. They said the Kosovo issue should be solved only through dialog with the mediation of the European Union.
The United States condemned the incident, describing it as a "violent attack by a Serb mob," and called on all the sides to remain calm and resume dialog.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the rising tensions in Kosovo, saying that "indulging the Kosovo-Albanian side promotes the growth of its aggression, its unwillingness to seek compromise solutions and to consider the legitimate interests of all ethnic groups living in Kosovo."
The ministry also reiterated its appeal to the international presence to "strictly stick to the principle of neutrality status."
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York on the sidelines of the 66th UN General Assembly in New York and provided him with all information about the border incident, the BETA news agency said.
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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=29&nav_id=76609
Tanjug News Agency - September 29, 2011
Security Council again without common stance on Kosovo
NEW YORK: The UN Security Council finished consultations late Wednesday without a common stance on the situation in northern Kosovo, Tanjug has learned.
In the closed-doors meeting held at Russia’s request, Western countries reiterated their earlier position that the problems in northern Kosovo could only be solved through dialogue, with the mediation of the EU, said the sources.
Western countries in the UN Security Council believe the situation in northern Kosovo is under control, and EULEX and KFOR are acting in line with the mandate given to them by the UN.
Most UN Security Council members showed they understood the severity of the situation in the Serbian province, the sources said.
The consultations were held at the request of Russia, which expressed concern Tuesday over the violence against the Serb population permitted by the international KFOR troops, at the same time urging KFOR and EULEX to remain strictly status-neutral.
The consultations followed a confrontation which erupted Tuesday at the Jarinje administrative crossing between KFOR troops and local Serbs, in which 11 people were wounded - seven Serbs and four KFOR members.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=29&nav_id=76616
B92 - September 29, 2011
KFOR starts demolishing alternative road
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: KFOR troops exited their base at the Jarinje checkpoint and blocked the road with two armored cars on Thursday.
They have started demolishing an alternative Kosovska Mitrovica-Raška road with dredgers.
The two KFOR armored vehicles are parked only several hundred meters from the Jarinje checkpoint, a B92 reporter has said.
The situation in Kosovo is otherwise peaceful. Serbs reinforced a barricade in Kosovska Mitrovica last night.
Kosovo police arrested a Serb under suspicion of taking part in an incident in Kosovska Mitrovica yesterday, when three persons were injured, Kosovo police Spokesman Besim Hoti.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/09/29/56935628.html
Voice of Russia - September 29, 2011
No calm at Serbian-Kosovo border
The UN Security Council has held closed-door consultations on the situation in northern Kosovo but its member states have once again failed to work out a single stand. On September 28th, Russia initiated an emergency session following clashes between locals and troops of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) near the Yarine checkpoint at the administrative Serbia-Kosovo border.
What is meant here is a conflict at two checkpoints controlled by the northern Kosovo Serbs. Back in July this year, the self-proclaimed republic’s Albanian authorities attempted to get them under control but failed in their endeavors. Today, the support of NATO forces and European police finally helped the Albanians appoint their customs and police officers at the two disputed checkpoints of Yarine and Brnyak. In response, the local Serbs blocked both of them, says head of the Institute of Europe’s group of ethno-political conflicts Dr. Pavel Kandel:
"The Serbs are opposed to the presence of Kosovo customs officers there and naturally try to force them out. The Kosovo authorities, in their turn, seek to bring their own officials to the checkpoints, thus making the best use of KFOR peacekeepers’ support and tearing off northern Kosovo from Serbia. It is quite natural that the indignant local Serbs arranged a demonstration resulting in clashes with the KFOR and subsequent injuries," Pavel Kandel explains.
Seven Serbs and four KFOR servicemen were injured in the incident. In response to accusations of violence on the part of NATO, the peacekeepers were said to have only shot for self-defense purposes.
Speaking at the latest Russia-NATO Council session, Russian envoy to the Alliance Dmitry Rogozin demanded an inquiry into the shooting of Kosovo Serbs near the Yarine checkpoint. “Irresponsibility of this sort leads to a war,” the official said.
...
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=2&id=277104
Interfax - September 30, 2011
Rogozin accuses NATO of gross violation of UNSC resolution on Kosovo
MOSCOW: In another conflict in Kosovo, NATO has openly sided with Pristina and acted in breach of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, said Russia's Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin.
"In this situation, NATO has unequivocally sided with Pristina," he said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel on Friday.
During the conflict, soldiers from the NATO Force for Kosovo used firearms against the Serbs, he said.
"Essentially, it was shooting against a peaceful civilian demonstration. This is absolutely against all of the norms written down in the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1244," the ambassador said.
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=6&id=276995
Interfax - September 30, 2011
Interference in internal affairs must not be covered by concept of protecting civilians – Lukashevich
MOSCOW: Attempts to justify foreign interference in internal affairs by compliance with the concept of the responsibility to protect civilians are unacceptable, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.
“We cannot side-step the polemics [at the 66th session of the UN general Assembly] on the concept of responsibility for the protection [of civilians], which some speakers cited while justifying the use of force in internal conflicts, including in Libya,” he said at a press briefing in Moscow on Friday.
“Russia is convinced that using this concept as a cover for interference in internal affairs and for regime change in the UN member-states is unacceptable,” he said.
http://rt.com/news/kosovo-kfor-clash-serbs-771/
RT - September 30, 2011
NATO issues Kosovo shoot to kill warning
Violence has flared again in Northern Kosovo after NATO troops brutally dispersed a crowd of Serbian protesters at a makeshift roadblock, firing live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators, and have now established an armed presence in the area.
Over 100 KFOR troops arrived at the scene on Friday and forced the Serbs to leave the then-intact barricade, threatening the use of lethal force. KFOR said they would shoot anyone who failed to comply. They also ordered journalists to leave the immediate area.
NATO’s force in Kosovo has said it will shoot to kill anyone who crosses a barricaded area near the disputed checkpoint on Serbia's border with Kosovo, reports RT’s Aleksey Yaroshevsky.
Allied pro-Kosovo forces then brought in bulldozers and demolished the barricade built by ethnic Serbs on the Kosovo side of the border with Serbia.
But Serbs at the remaining barricades say they will not leave their positions.
“We have lost a battle, but not the whole war,” they told RT.
The Kosovar Serbs added that their move to erect barricades in Kosovo is driven by fear that Belgrade might abandon them in pursuit of EU membership.
Ethnic Serbs are more determined than ever to show that they do not wish to be part of the Kosovo republic.
“They are telling us to leave but we have nowhere to go,' explained Petra, a local resident.
“This is because Kosovo is our land, our home and our life. It seems that we are on our own now and we will stand our ground.”
After peacefully retreating from the barricades, the Serbs established another makeshift checkpoint by putting two large trucks on a bridge, thus blocking access to northern Kosovo for the KFOR troops.
The situation remains tense but not violent with Serbs pulling back and grouping at a nearby bridge block post. The barricade secured by NATO troops is just one of about half a dozen constructed by Serbs, so the stand-off is continuing and an escalation of tension remains a possibility. RT’s correspondent reports that he saw a group of Serbs tearing down a road sign posted by KFOR, indicating that their fighting spirit is far from lost.
Still, more than 10 wounded people remain in hospital in the town of Mitrovice after Tuesday’s clashes with KFOR forces. Some of them have bullet wounds.
RT spoke to them to get first-hand information about the clashes.
“We were standing by the barricade when the soldiers started shouting and shooting at us,” recalls injured Aleksander Radunovic. “I did not know what they were shooting with so I got scared and started running away. Then I thought I had been hit on the shoulder, but it turned out I had received a perforating wound of my lung.”
Significantly, KFOR and NATO are trying to convince the public that they only used rubber bullets and tear gas grenades against the Serbs to pacify them. But doctors in the local hospital told RT that the patients have unmistakable gunshot wounds.
“We received seven men in a serious condition: gunshot wounds, fractures and bruises – they were not rubber bullets, not a single one of them had rubber bullet wounds,” revealed the head surgeon of Mitrovica hospital, Radomir Ivankovic. “All those wounds were caused by regular bullets which we extracted from the bodies [of injured].”
The conflict zone in Kosovska Mitrovica is split between the Albanians and the Serbs, and as RT’s crew witnessed last night, the latter are currently reinforcing their barricades with fresh piles of sandbags being placed across roads to block access to KFOR forces and the Kosovo police.
NATO helicopters are bringing additional troops to the conflict zone, and are reported to be flying over the border crossings approximately every 30 minutes.
There has been a strong international response on this week’s developments in Kosovo.
The US has accused Serbs of provoking violence, while the Russian Foreign ministry has expressed deep concern over the situation in Kosovo, saying that this conflict, largely perceived as a border incident, could destabilize the situation in the whole region.
Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has criticized NATO for a crude breach of the UN resolution on Kosovo, saying the alliance has failed to remain neutral.
“In this situation, NATO has definitely taken Pristina’s side,” Rogozin told Russia’s TV channel Rossiya 24.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has also expressed deep concern over news suggesting an emergency carriage taking the injured to hospital was fired on by Kosovo forces during Tuesday clashes at the disputed checkpoint.
On Wednesday, members of the United Nations Security Council gathered for emergency consultations in New York to discuss the situation in southern Serbia, but failed to reach a common stance on the conflict in the turbulent region.
On Thursday, Kosovo's Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi said that roadblocks put up by local Serbs will be removed, pledging, though, that ethnic Albanian-dominated authorities will make no unilateral moves, AP reports.
The removal of barriers is “inevitable” as they prevent “freedom of movement for people and goods,'' the minister said, adding that any action would be coordinated with the NATO-led KFOR forces and the European Union mission.
Irish Times - October 1, 2011
Kosovo Serbs dig in as border dispute turns bloody
Mileva Premovic and her neighbours while away the afternoon in the shade of a broad tree. The unseasonable warmth makes it hard to imagine that the green Kapaonik mountains, rising up a few miles away in Serbia, will soon be white with snow and busy with skiers.
It would also be hard to believe that bullets were fired and blood shed here just a few days ago, were it not for the scars that blight Kosovo’s border zone.
Nearby fields are burned black from recent rioting and, just over the rise, US soldiers move warily behind a huge earth barricade and glinting coils of barbed wire. They warn off anyone approaching their position while they are still hundreds of metres away, their rifles clearly showing.
“It was frightening to see the demonstrators running, tumbling over each other to get away,” Premovic says of Tuesday’s clashes between Serbs and Nato troops. “There were hundreds of local people, young and old, and I could hear gunfire – tap-tap-tap. If the Americans want to kill me, then go ahead, I have nowhere else to go. But this has always been Serb land; there have never been Albanians here.”
Serbs accuse Nato troops, specifically Americans, of using live ammunition to disperse people who were protesting against ethnic-Albanian Kosovo police efforts to take control of customs points along the border with Serbia – a frontier that local Serbs insist they will never recognise.
...
Tuesday’s violence injured at least six Serbs and four Kfor soldiers, ramped up tension in northern Kosovo, and prompted the postponement of EU-brokered talks between Belgrade and Pristina to solve practical problems stemming from Kosovo’s 2008 independence declaration.
The Belgrade government, like most Serbs, refuses to recognise the sovereignty of Kosovo, which from 1999-2008 was run by the UN after Nato bombing forced Slobodan Milosevic’s forces to withdraw from the region...
Many Serbs fled Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war and the 100,000 that remain are divided between almost entirely Serb northern regions and enclaves in the south where they are surrounded by Kosovo’s 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority.
Serbs in northern Kosovo refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Pristina government and still look to Belgrade for political leadership, protection and finance.
In a bid to tighten control of the rebellious north, Pristina dispatched special police to take over custom points in July. Local Serbs resisted and killed one of those policemen.
The row has rumbled on, and this week’s clashes came when Kfor troops tried to clear barricades built by Serbs across local main roads and to block one of the many rough tracks that they use to bypass official checkpoints and enter Serbia.
...
About a dozen Serbs sit in the sun, eating, drinking and making gentle fun of the Greek Kfor troops watching them from behind barbed wire. The Serbs insist they are neither radicals nor puppets of the local mafia, but patriots who refuse to be dictated to in their ancient homeland.
“We want to remain part of Serbia.
“I live on my grandfather’s land, but this situation means I have to hope my kids find a future in Belgrade or Europe. That’s the sad truth,” says Sladjan Radosavljevic from the nearby village of Leposavic, home to many of the protesters.
“Serbs are disappearing everywhere,” he adds. “Croatia, Macedonia, and they are under pressure in Montenegro. What could we possibly hope for from the Albanians?”
Offering food and strong home-made rakia to visitors, local man Stanko Lakic brandishes a fork and insists it is the protesters’ deadliest weapon.
“Every river has a source and every nation has its birthplace. The birthplace for every Serb is Kosovo.
“And what happens when a river loses its source? It disappears,” he says.
“But Serbs will never leave Kosovo.
“No price and no amount of violence will force us out.”
Tanjug News Agency - October 2, 2011
Serbs set up concrete barricade in Kosovska Mitrovica
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: The night passed peacefully in northern Kosovo and was marked by concreting of a barricade on the bridge over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Citizens spent another night at the barricades in front of the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative checkpoints and blocks on northern Kosovo roads.
KFOR and EULEX shut down the Jarinje administrative crossing during the night after Serbs set up a new barricade, thus obstructing traffic completely on the access road from central Serbia as well.
For the first time since the outbreak of the crisis on Jarinje on the occasion of the deployment of Kosovo customs officers and police on the administrative line, a barricade was put up outside of Kosovo, on the access road from central Serbia, thus completely surrounding Jarinje, just like in the case of Brnjak earlier on.
KFOR and EULEX, which closed the crossing late on Saturday, opened it again for passenger traffic early on Sunday and removed the barbed wire that was preventing access to the crossing during the night.
EULEX officials told Tanjug that the crossing was closed at 19:00 CET and that was opened again at 7:00.
...
Commenting on the Saturday shutdown of the Jarinje crossing, Leposavić Mayor Branko Ninić stated that this was another KFOR attempt of manipulation and deceiving the public so that they could conceal the violence and use of firearms against unarmed people a few days ago.
“Barricades are still standing on the road and citizens are determined to fight by peaceful means to have officers of the so-called Kosovo customs service removed from Brnjak and Jarinje,” he stressed.
Tanjug News Agency - October 4, 2011
Kosovo to be discussed at NATO summit
BRUSSELS, WASHINGTON: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says situation in northern Kosovo and KFOR’s role will be one of the key topics of NATO defense ministers' meeting.
“We will discuss the developments in Kosovo. We have seen how quickly tensions can increase and how important the role of the NATO mission is,” Rasmussen stated in Brussels on Monday, Voice of America has reported.
...
Commenting on the claims that KFOR soldiers used live ammunition when firing at Serbs at the Jarinje administrative crossing, the NATO official said that this was an act of self-defense, and that soldiers had right to act like that.
...
Beta News Agency - October 4, 2011
Kosovo Serbs hold protest rally
GRAČANICA: Several hundreds of Serbs held a protest in Gračanica on Tuesday over murder of Aleksandar Putnik and wounding of his son Dobrica near Orahovac.
The Serbs started a protest walk at 11:00 CET. The rally ended in the Gračanica Monastery where the protesters lit candles.
The protest gathering was led by Gračanica Health Center Director Rada Trajković. Serbs were carrying Serbian flags and banners written in Serbian and English.
They called on Kosovo officials to find the perpetrators of this attack and all other crimes against Kosovo Serbs.
There were no incidents during the protest and Kosovo police officers were providing safety. EULEX police were also present.
Putnik was killed on Saturday night in front of a restaurant in the village of Zrze. Police did not state what the motive was, but stressed that the investigation was underway.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20111005/167409054.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti - October 5, 2011
NATO 'violated' UN mandate in Kosovo clashes
MOSCOW: Russia's Foreign Ministry said NATO overstepped its UN Security Council mandate.
"I must repeat again that the use of force to help implement the lawmaking of the so-called republic do not agree with the UN mandate and vi
(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
tra le due rive dell’Adriatico
Giornata di studio - Foligno 20 ottobre 2011
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SAVEZ UDRUZENJA BORACA NOR-a I ANTIFASISTA CRNE GORE
A.N.P.I. Comitato provinciale di Perugia
Comune di Foligno
Comune di Campello sul Clitunno
Con il patrocinio di:
Ambasciata del Montenegro
Il sistema concentrazionario fascista tra le due rive dell’Adriatico
giovedì 20 ottobre 2011
foligno
sala delle conferenze
palazzo trinci
piazza della repubblica
ore 10
SALUTI
Nando Mismetti, Sindaco di Foligno
Mario Tosti, Presidente Isuc
Manlio Marini, Presidente Officina della Memoria
PRESIEDE
Alberto Sorbini, Direttore Isuc
INTERVENGONO
Costantino Di Sante, Università di Teramo
Lo studio dell’universo concentrazionario fascista d’occupazione nella storiografia italiana
Radoje Pajovic, Dukljanska Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti, Podgorica
Strategie dell’occupazione italiana del Montenegro nella storiografia slava
Dino Renato Nardelli, Sezione didattica Isuc
Il sistema concentrazionario in Umbria tra macchina repressiva e risorsa per un’economia di guerra
Giovanni Kaczmarek, Ricercatore Isuc
I civili del campo di Colfiorito: ritratto di “banditi” in un interno
ore 15
PRESIEDE
Rita Zampolini, Assessore alla Memoria Comune di Foligno
INTERVENGONO
Ljubo Sekulic, Potpredsjednik Saveza Udruzenja Boraca NOR-a i Antifasista Crne Gore
La lotta antifascista in Montenegro tra memoria e storia: italiani
Francesco Innamorati, Presidente provinciale ANPI
La lotta antifascista in Montenegro tra memoria e storia: montenegrini
Tommaso Rossi, Ricercatore Isuc
Un comandante montenegrino nella Resistenza umbra: Svetozar Lakovic “Toso”
Testimonianze dal Montenegro e dall’Umbria
L'iniziativa, organizzata da soggetto accreditato alla formazione (DM 23/05/2002 e DM 08/06/2005), è considerata ai fini della formazione e dell'aggiornamento in servizio del personale della scuola ai sensi degli artt. 64 e 67 CCNL 2006/2009
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29.09.2011, 22:39
In Germania e’ stato ucciso il principale testimone dell’accusa contro i leader kosovari che si sarebbero macchiati di gravi crimini come il traffico di organi espiantati ai prigionieri serbi. Un portavoce dell’Unione Europea ritiene che questo nuovo reato non dovrebbe influire sul processo. [SIC]
ADN Kronos International - September 16, 2011
Kosovo: Witness gets two months jail for contempt of UN court
The Hague: A witness for the in the trial of former Kosovo prime minister Ramus Haradinaj was sentenced to two months in jail on Friday by the United Nation War Crimes Tribunal for contempt of court.
Sefcet Kabashi, a key witness against Haradinaj, who is accused of war crimes against Serb, Roma and non-loyal Albanian civilians during 1998/99 conflict, refused to testify in 2007, saying several witnesses had been killed.
He was arrested by Netherlands authorities in August and handed over to the tribunal. But he again refused to answer questions by the prosecution at Haradinaj’s retrial which is currently going on in The Hague.
Haradinaj, a former military commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought against Serbian rule, was acquitted in the first trial for “lack of evidence”. But the tribunal’s appeals panel said the first trial was conducted in an “atmosphere of intimidation of witnesses” and ordered a retrial.
Kabashi could have been sentenced up to seven years in jail and/or 100,000 euros for contempt of court. But the tribunal said it took into account Akashi’s “family situation and post-traumatic problems” as mitigating circumstances.
He has already served one month in jail and will be freed after serving another thirty days.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=28&nav_id=76608
Tanjug News Agency - September 28, 2011
Protected witness in ex-KLA trial found dead
PRIŠTINA: A protected witness in the village of Klecka war crimes case was found dead, EULEX Spokeswoman Irina Gudeljević told Tanjug.
According to her, the protected witness was found dead in a park in Germany.
The German authorities are investigating the case. The protected witness was Kosovo Albanian Agim Zogaj. He was supposed to testify in the trial of ex-Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Fatmir Limaj and nine more persons for war crimes in Klečka. The trial is expected to begin by the end of October.
Limaj, who has been under house arrest since last week, will be tried on an indictment charging him with war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war.
The Priština District Court, headed by a EULEX judge, prolonged custody to the group of nine accused for another two months.
Limaj and other defendants are charged with murders, torture and health endangerment of Albanian and Serb civilians from Kosovo and prisoners of war.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/28/us-kosovo-war-crimes-idUSTRE78R5O320110928
Reuters - September 28, 2011
Kosovo war crimes witness found dead in Germany
PRISTINA: A witness in a war crimes case against a member of Kosovo's parliament has been found dead in Germany, an EU police and justice mission (EULEX) spokesman said on Wednesday.
Ruling party parliamentarian Fatmir Limaj, who was put under house arrest last week, and nine other people arrested in March are accused of committing murder, torture and violations of the human rights of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and prisoners during Kosovo's 1998-99 war with Serbia.
Agim Zogaj, known as witness X in the war crimes case, was found dead in a German park, said EULEX spokesman Blerim Krasniqi, adding: "The German authorities are conducting the necessary investigation to determine the circumstances of his death."
A German police spokesman said investigators suspected that Zogaj killed himself but the investigation was still in progress and the police were waiting for the coroner's report.
"There are no indications it was anything else," the police spokesman said. He added an autopsy would be carried out on Thursday.
Zogaj, who was a soldier under Limaj's command during Kosovo's war for independence, was sent to Germany as a protected witness. Police would not confirm media reports in Kosovo that he had killed himself.
Those charged are former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought Serb forces for independence.
Limaj, an ally of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, was a leading figure in the KLA.
...Limaj was acquitted by The Hague war crimes tribunal in 2005, two years after he was indicted on similar charges.
Limaj also faces corruption charges relating to his time as transport minister in a previous government.
...
(Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
Beta News Agency - September 29, 2011
Witness in ex-KLA trial fears for safety, won’t testify
BELGRADE: A potential witness of the prosecution in ex-Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander Fatmir Limaj has said that he does not want to testify for safety reasons.
The witness informed the deputy prosecutor on Thursday, after learning of protected witness Agim Zogaj’s death, that he did not want to testify in the Klečka case for safety reasons.
“The Serbian War Crimes Prosecution believes that justice in the region is jeopardized by Agim Zogaj’s death and expresses concern over the information that Zogaj, a protected witness in the EULEX Prosecution’s case against Fatmir Limaj, was found dead in a park in Duisburg, Germany,” it was announced on Thursday.
The Serbian prosecution stressed that its 2008 investigation against Limaj and 28 more KLA members had greatly contributed to EULEX Prosecution’s case.
Aside from Limaj, the EULEX indictment charges nine more persons with war crimes against Serb and Albanian civilians in the village of Klečka in 1999.
RT - September 29, 2011
Key Kosovo war crimes witness found dead
A key witness in a war crimes trial in Kosovo has been found dead in Germany. He had apparently committed suicide.
Nicholas Hawton, an EU spokesman in Kosovo, said on Wednesday Agim Zogaj's body was discovered in a city park in Duisburg, reports Associated Press.
Police believe that he hanged himself late on Tuesday.
...
Zogaj was a protected witness in the trial of Fatmir Limaj. The ethnic Albanian and former transport minister under Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is suspected of unlawfully killing and torturing Serb prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war. Many of the charges were based on Zogaj's witness statements.
Limaj, who remains an influential political figure in Kosovo, is also under investigation over alleged embezzlement of budget money during his time in the cabinet.
Last week, the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army was put under a month-long house arrest by a judge of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo pending his trial for war crimes.
Limaj was cleared of similar charges by a UN court in 2005 which ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
Secondo gli investigatori, cittadini tedeschi, israeliani, canadesi e polacchi erano disposti a pagare l'organizzazione fino a 90mila euro per un rene. I donatori, provenienti da paesi poveri dell'Europa dell'est e dell'Asia centrale, ricevevano un compenso inferiore ai 10mila euro.
Il procuratore europeo Jonathan Ratel ha chiesto il rinvio a giudizio per nove persone.Lufti Dervishi e il figlio Arben, personaggi chiave dell'inchiesta, sono attori influenti nella politica kosovara. Ma vi sono altri imputati eccellenti: Driton Jilta, ex ufficiale della missione OSCE in Kosovo; Ilir Rrecaj, ex ministro della sanità kosovara; Sokol Hajdini,Islam Bytyqi e Suleiman Dulla, anestesisti alla clinica Medicus; Moshe Harel, un intermediario israeliano. E infine Yusuf Ercin Sonmez, chirurgo turco finito più volte nel mirino degli inquirenti per il suo coinvolgimento in altri presunti traffici di organi, e noto alle cronache con i soprannomi di "Dottor Avvoltoio" e "Dottor Frankenstein". Anche un chirurgo israeliano, Zaki Shapira, e un altro dottore turco, Kenan Demirkol, sono stati citati nell'atto di accusa del procuratore Ratel come "complici non ancora incriminati".
La clinica Medicus aveva ottenuto un'autorizzazione per attività sanitarie in cardiologia ma non in urologia, nonostante ripetute richieste presentate da Dervishi a partire dal 2003.
Dervishi, Thaci e la Casa Gialla
Lufti Dervishi, professore all'università di Pristina sin dal 1982, ufficialmente proprietario della clinica Medicus, è un importante alleato del primo ministro kosovaro Hashim Thaci, leader del Partito Democratico del Kosovo (PDK).
L'amicizia tra Thaci e Dervishi è di lunga data, secondo Francesco Mandoi, ex procuratore EULEX, ora sostituto procuratore nazionale antimafia a Roma.
La famiglia di Dervishi ospitò Thaci quando ci fu un attentato bomba nel cortile della casa dell'attuale primo ministro. Anni dopo, Lufti Dervishi diede a Thaci l'appartamento sopra quello di casa sua nella capitale Pristina.
Thaci fu anche il leader politico dell'Esercito di Liberazione del Kosovo (UCK), un gruppo armato appoggiato dalla NATO che sosteneva la separazione del Kosovo dalla Serbia e l'unione politica con l'Albania. Fino al 1998, il Dipartimento di Stato americano aveva considerato l'UCK un'organizzazione terrorista. Un anno dopo, i miliziani albanesi divennero i più stretti alleati di Washington nei Balcani.
All'indomani dei bombardamenti NATO, i serbi e i collaborazionisti con il governo di Belgrado non furono le sole vittime dei regolamenti di conti targati UCK. Le violenze esplosero anche contro rivali politici e militari della FARK, un altro gruppo armato albanese, e persino in seno a fazioni contrapposte dell'UCK.
"Secondo alcune indagini riservate, Lufti Dervishi era stato notato spesse volte nei pressi della Casa Gialla", riferisce Mandoi.
Gli investigatori internazionali sospettano che la "Casa Gialla" fosse una struttura di detenzione segreta sotto il controllo di miliziani dell'UCK, in cui venivano condotti test di compatibilità su prigionieri serbi e albanesi prima dell'esecuzione dei trapianti.
Sulla base delle descrizioni offerte da diversi testimoni, la Casa Gialla è stata identificata inuna cascina vicino a Burrel, nell'Albania settentrionale, non lontano da Prizren. All'epoca, la zona di Prizren, seconda città del Kosovo vicino al confine albanese, era controllata dai soldati UCK agli ordini di Thaci.
La prima sede della clinica Medicus fu Prizren, secondo il procuratore Mandoi, il quale però sottolinea che gli investigatori non furono in grado di effettuare riscontri riguardo alla presenza di Dervishi nelle vicinanze della Casa Gialla.
Al termine della guerra, furono i soldati tedeschi della KFOR, la missione NATO in Kosovo, a controllare l'area di Thaci. E proprio due eurodeputati tedeschi, Bernd Posselt e Doris Pack, attaccarono il rapporto del Consiglio d'Europa in cui l'ex procuratore svizzero Dick Marty denunciava un presunto traffico di organi in Kosovo. Secondo Marty, il traffico sarebbe prima avvenuto con prigionieri catturati e uccisi dall'UCK, poi continuato nella clinica Medicus con donatori viventi provenienti da paesi poveri europei e asiatici.
Lo scorso marzo, Posselt e Pack dissero al quotidiano Irish Times che Marty non aveva presentato alcuna prova concreta durante un incontro a porte chiuse della commissione affari esteri del parlamento europeo. Doris Pack disse che "almeno il 90 percento" degli eurodeputati avevano criticato aspramente il dossier di Marty.
Tuttavia, l'eurodeputato italiano Pino Arlacchi, anch'egli presente a quella seduta, ha fornito una versione dei fatti radicalmente differente. "Posselt e Pack hanno accusato Marty con argomenti molto deboli" afferma Arlacchi. "Ma la maggior parte degli europarlamentari, compreso io, abbiamo appoggiato il rapporto del Consiglio d'Europa."
Dr. Beer
Martin Kraushaar, co-autore del documentario "Sulle tracce del traffico di organi in Kosovo", recentemente trasmesso dall'emittente tedesca ZDF, ha trovato prove cheDervishi abbia ricevuto fino a 3 milioni di euro da un noto urologo di Berlino, Dr. Manfred Beer, con cui il dottore albanese aveva studiato e lavorato in Germania.
L'avvocato di Dervishi, Linn Slattengren, ha affermato che il suo cliente amministrò alcuni investimenti nel settore immobiliare in Kosovo per conto di Beer. L'investimento si sarebbe rivelato redditizio e il Dr. Beer avrebbe allora proposto a Dervishi di aprire la clinica Medicusa suo nome.
Da questo punto in poi, le versioni fornite da Dervishi e da Beer divergono.
Secondo l'avvocato Slattengren, Beer avrebbe investito nella clinica 3 milioni di euro e sarebbe stato direttamente coinvolto nella selezione dei medici per praticare operazioni chirurgiche alla Medicus. Beer sostiene invece che diede a Dervishi non più di 300mila euroe non ebbe alcun ruolo nel reclutamento del personale medico per la clinica.
Una fonte vicina alle indagini, che ha richiesto l'anonimato, afferma che l'urologo tedesco non è indagato né sospettato di alcun illecito. A ogni modo, il nome di Beer non compare nella lista dei testimoni, né sarebbe stato interrogato sul suo ruolo in Medicus.
"Gli inquirenti avrebbero dovuto interrogare Beer e determinare se fosse coinvolto o meno in attività illecite" dice Lawrence Marzouk, direttore responsabile di Prishtina Insight, unico giornale kosovaro in lingua inglese. "Credevo che lo avessero interrogato, almeno così mi era stato detto da ufficiali EULEX. Se le cose non stessero così, questa situazione solleverebbe inquietanti interrogativi sulla qualità delle indagini."
La missione EULEX è la più grande missione dell'Unione Europea in termini di uomini e di mezzi: oltre 87 milioni di euro spesi solo fra ottobre 2010 e ottobre 2011, secondo le stime ufficiali. Lo staff, composto da agenti di polizia e da magistrati, conta più di 3000 persone, di cui quasi 2000 sono internazionali e 1250 kosovari. Il comando della missione è stato affidato a Xavier Bout de Marnhac.
In teoria, EULEX lavora sotto la supervisione di UNMIK, l'amministrazione provvisoria dell'ONU in Kosovo. In realtà, EULEX ha di fatto sostituito UNMIK dal 2008 a oggi, e non risponde al segretario generale delle Nazioni Unite ma a Catherine Ashton, l'Alto Rappresentante per esteri e difesa dell'Unione Europea.
"UNMIK ci ha lasciato un'eredità pesante", dice Alberto Perduca, capo della giustizia EULEX tra il 2008 e il 2010, ora procuratore aggiunto a Torino. Migliaia di fascicoli, circa 1200 solo quelli relativi ai crimini di guerra. "Un numero da mettere in ginocchio qualunque procura," afferma Perduca. Cercando di mantenere un basso profilo, la missione ha riaperto inchieste e casi giudiziari contro politici di primo piano o i loro diretti collaboratori.
"Avevamo il compito di ristabilire il primato della legge in un contesto internazionale quanto mai fragile, attraverso il coinvolgimento progressivo delle istituzioni locali," dice il procuratore. Ma la magistratura kosovara, esposta alle intimidazioni dei poteri forti, mostrò una certa riluttanza a occuparsi direttamente dei dossier più scottanti''.
EULEX assicura anche la protezione del superpentito Nazim Bllaca, un ex membro del K-SHIK, il servizio segreto kosovaro. Bllaca ha ammesso di aver preso parte a diversi omicidi e di aver condotto una serie di azioni illegali ai danni degli oppositori del PDK, il maggiore partito kosovaro guidato dal primo ministro Hashim Thaci.
I processi riaperti da EULEX a carico di personaggi influenti come Fatmir Limaj, Ramush Haradinaj e Lufti Dervishi non hanno certo accattivato le simpatie dei partiti di governo e di opposizione kosovari verso la task force internazionale. D'altro canto, molti cittadini kosovari lamentano proprio la mancanza di coraggio di EULEX nelle operazioni di contrasto alla criminalità organizzata.
Gli ultranazionalisti di Levizja Vetevendosje (Movimento di autoderminazione) sono fra le voci più critiche verso la magistratura e le forze di polizia europee. Lo scorso giugno, due auto di EULEX sono state distrutte da una carica di esplosivo.
EULEX ha incontrato anche forti resistenze nel perseguimento delle indagini relative al presunto traffico di organi avvenuto all'indomani dei bombardamenti NATO del 1999. Gli ex procuratori svizzeri Dick Marty e Carla del Ponte hanno lamentato la mancanza di un adeguato programma di protezione dei testimoni e di un mandato per la conduzione di investigazioni in territorio albanese.
Secondo Alberto Perduca, la limitata dimensione del territorio kosovaro e uno stretto tessuto sociale fondato su vincoli familiari rende impossibile una protezione adeguata dei testimoni in Kosovo. "È assolutamente indispensabile una cooperazione internazionale" dice il procuratore.
''Fino a quando altri stati non assicurano la disponibilità ad accogliere questi collaboratori di giustizia, l'attività investigativa diventa molto difficile''.
E ribadisce: "Indagare sul traffico di organi non è un optional, è un atto dovuto. Fino a quando l'Albania non concede assistenza giudiziaria per avere accesso ai luoghi dove si sarebbero consumati i delitti, l'indagine è paralizzata."
E finalmente la missione europea ha formato una squadra investigativa speciale per verificare le accuse. A sorpresa, EULEX ha nominato un procuratore statunitense, John Clinton Williamson, a dirigere l'inchiesta.
Williamson era stato il capo del ministero della giustizia kosovara tra il 2001 e il 2002, quando il territorio era sotto l'amministrazione delle Nazioni Unite.
Indagini sul traffico d'organi
Gli investigatori erano a conoscenza di un presunto traffico di organi in Kosovo almeno dal 2003, quando gli investigatori delle Nazioni Unite scrissero una relazione di 29 pagine sulle testimonianze di centri segreti di detenzione nell'Albania settentrionale. L'indagine fu fermata un anno più tardi concludendosi in un nulla di fatto.
Due giornalisti italiani, Giuseppe Ciulla e Vittorio Romano, hanno pubblicato documenti che dimostrano che già nel 2005 la clinica Medicus era finita nel mirino della Financial Intelligence Unit, una sorta di Guardia di Finanza ONU. Gli agenti accertarono che il Centro Trasfusioni del Kosovo (KBTC) aveva fornito abnormi quantità di sangue ad alcune cliniche private a Pristina. La clinica Medicus fu fra gli acquirenti di quel sangue, necessario per condurre trapianti di organi. Il centro trasfusioni ricevette in cambio 100 euro per ogni sacca di sangue, pari a un terzo del salario medio di un dottore in Kosovo. Anche in questo caso, le autorità non procedettero con i controlli.
Il sospetto di un traffico di organi in Kosovo apparve sulla grande stampa internazionale solo nell'aprile 2008, quando l'ex procuratore Carla Del Ponte scrisse che centinaia di serbi sarebbero stati rapiti e uccisi al fine di estrarre i loro organi. Nell'ottobre dello stesso anno, EULEX lanciò un'inchiesta su Medicus.
Nel 2010, l'ex procuratore del Canton Ticino Dick Marty confermò le accuse di Del Ponte in un rapporto del Consiglio d'Europa, aggiungendo che "la componente del traffico di organi nelle detenzioni all'indomani del conflitto ... è collegato all'odierno caso della ClinicaMedicus, anche per il ruolo di albanesi kosovari che figurano in entrambe le inchieste."
In particolare, Marty scrisse che il primo ministro Thaci è il leader di un'organizzazione criminale chiamata "il Gruppo di Drenica", direttamente collegata al presunto traffico di organi.
"I leaders del ‘Gruppo di Drenica' hanno la più grande responsabilità . . . per aver amministrato il network di strutture di detenzione dell'UCK sul territorio dell'Albania; e per aver determinato il destino di quei detenuti ... inclusi i molti civili rapiti e portati al di là del confine," sostiene Marty.
L'ex magistrato svizzero accusò anche Shaip Muja, numero uno della sanità UCK, poi consigliere politico del primo ministro Thaci, di essere un membro dell'organizzazione dedita al traffico di organi, aggiungendo che Muja avrebbe ricevuto il supporto di "elementi nell'esercito e nei servizi segreti albanesi".
"È imperativo che EULEX riceva più esplicito e risoluto sostegno dai più alti livelli della politica europea," afferma Marty.
"Cosa è particolarmente sorprendente è che tutta la comunità internazionale in Kosovo - dal governo degli Stati Uniti alle nazioni occidentali alleate, alle autorità di giustizia dell'Unione Europea - senza dubbio posseggono la stessa schiacciante documentazione sulla gravità dei crimini del Gruppo di Drenica, ma nessuno sembra pronto a reagire di fronte a questa situazione e a punire i responsabili."
Intervista a Nancy Scheper - Hughes
Le attività di Nancy Scheper-Hughes, professoressa di antropologia alla prestigiosa Università di Berkeley, assomigliano più a quelle di un detective piuttosto che a quelle di un accademico. Le sue indagini sotto copertura e la sua attività di ricerca l'hanno resa una dei più grandi esperti sul traffico di organi sin dalla metà degli anni Novanta, quando dovette scontrarsi contro un muro di scetticismo e isolamento.
Secondo un rapporto del Dipartimento di Stato americano del 2004, "sarebbe impossibile nascondere un traffico illegale di organi".
Qualche anno più tardi, diverse indagini di polizia, in Brasile, Sud Africa, Stati Uniti,Moldavia, Turchia e Israele, a cui Scheper-Hughes collaborò, le diedero ragione.
Zaki Shapira, uno dei più famosi chirurghi israeliani - e uno dei presunti membri dell'organizzazione criminale dedita ai traffici di organi - sedette insieme a Scheper-Hughes nella commissione etica della Fondazione Rockfeller a Bellagio.
"Era assurdo. Zaki era un membro della task force internazionale di Bellagio contro il traffico di organi", afferma Scheper-Hughes. "Ho detto al direttore della task force che Shapira era un noto membro del network internazionale di traffico di reni. Il suo partner era Yusuf Sonmez. Utilizzavano i rimborsi dell'assicurazione sanitaria israeliana e riciclaggio del denaro sporco per finanziare trapianti internazionali''.
In un file in possesso di Scheper-Hughes, Sonmez si vantò di aver eseguito più di 2200 trapianti illegali di organi.
Ma come è possibile che un traffico internazionale di organi possa prosperare senza essere scoperto?
"La sola cosa che posso dire è che il traffico di organi è un crimine ‘protetto' in molti stati. In tempi di conflitti, di guerre e di disastri naturali, così come in stati 'militarizzati', gli organi vengono rubati" afferma Scheper-Hughes. "Ci sono voluti dieci anni perché qualcuno ascoltasse quello che avevo da dire. Ho le prove di ciò che affermo. In stati attualmente o precedentemente militarizzati come Israele, Brasile e Argentina, alcune persone venivano uccise per sottrarre i loro organi. So che questo può essere fatto: non ci vuole molto. Guarda cosa fa la Cina con i suoi prigionieri. Estrarre organi non costituisce un grande problema. Tutto quello di cui hai bisogno è di una soluzione per conservarli epersonale tecnico competente. L'organizzazione Eurotransplant lo fa costantemente, per motivi altruistici si intende, e trasporta organi fino in Turchia".
Secondo Scheper-Hughes, ai tempi della dittatura militare in Brasile l'esercito ordinò al loro più importante chirurgo di prendere gli organi di cui i soldati e le loro famiglie avevano bisogno.
"Ho parlato con l'ex capo della società nefrologica, un brillante accademico di 90 anni. Mi ha detto: ci hanno costretti. Dichiaravamo la morte cerebrale delle persone prima che fossero morte per davvero."
E nelle indagini sui traffici di organi spuntano i nomi di ex ufficiali o persone vicino agli ambienti militari. Come il generale israeliano in pensione Meir Zamir, di Rishon Lezion, 63 anni, eroe della guerra di Yom Kippur del 1973, accusato dalla giustizia israeliana di essere il capo di un network criminale dedito a tale traffici connesso a Yusuf Sonmez, chirurgo turco coinvolto nel caso Medicus in Kosovo. Oppure il caso di M.R., imprenditore agricolo di San Cipriano d'Aversa ammalato di diabete, avvicinato nel 1998 da un americano in un pub a Pinetamare, per anni area abitata da militari dell'U.S. Navy. Lo straniero avrebbe messo in contatto l'imprenditore con aiuto fornendo il recapito della clinica turca e del chirurgo - sempre lui: Sonmez. Un nuovo rene, una nuova vita, in cambio di 220 milioni di lire. L'indagine fu archiviata.
Traffici di armi e traffici di organi: chi si è avvicinato troppo alla verità, non ha vissuto abbastanza a lungo per raccontarla. Nel maggio 1996, Xavier Bernard Gautier, corrispondente de Le Figaro e attento conoscitore dei Balcani, fu trovato impiccato nella sua casa sull'isola di Minorca, Spagna. Le autorità spagnole non ebbero dubbi sulla sua morte: un suicidio. Tuttavia le circostanze erano, per così dire, singolari. Lo trovarono con le mani legate; sulle mura di casa la scritta "Traditore" e "Diavolo Rosso". E Diavolo Rosso era il soprannome di Roberto Delle Fave, il mercenario italiano che aveva combattuto in Bosnia per le forze croate e che gli avrebbe rivelato i retroscena di un traffico di armi verso l'Austria e un traffico di organi verso l'Italia.
Un giornalista francese dichiarò alla stampa che Gautier stava scrivendo un articolo in cui "non solo criminali di guerra nell'ex Jugoslavia, ma anche importanti italiani." E qualche anno più tardi, i magistrati Nicola Maria Pace e Federico Frezza della Procura di Trieste seguirono proprio la pista di un presunto traffico di organi di immigranti cinesi fra l'Italia e la ex Jugoslavia.
Tali inquietanti retroscena non hanno impedito ad alcuni chirurghi di definirsi come "Robin Hood" che rischiano le loro carriere per fornire organi a coloro che vedono in faccia la morte aspettando di essere i prossimi in lista in regolari trapianti.
Ma Scheper-Hughes rifiuta di credere che questi dottori agiscano per motivi umanitari, e aggiunge che conosce un dottore turco che ha praticato trapianti con organi "scaduti".
"Nessuno con un po' di senno permetterebbe ai dottori di trapiantare un organo vecchio di 100 ore", sostiene Scheper-Hughes. "I professionisti dei trapianti sanno cosa sta succedendo e non ne sono contenti, ma preferiscono lavare i panni sporchi in casa".
In Brasile, Scheper-Hughes ha iniziato a indagare su presunti rapimenti al fine di estrarre organi. Una volta è andata sotto copertura in una casa di adozioni illegali amministrata da una ex suora.
Scheper-Hughes disse alla ex religiosa che stava cercando un bambino. "Voglio un bambino sano, di circa otto o nove anni per dare un rene a mio figlio. Voglio adottarlo fino al trapianto. Poi te manderò indietro e ti pagherò quanto vuoi... sempre che la cifra sia ragionevole."
La trafficante di bambini rispose: "Guarda, trovare il bambino non è un problema. Puoi fare quello che vuoi con lui. Ma non lo voglio indietro. Prendilo, è tuo. Cosa ci fai con lui sono affari tuoi."
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Da: "Y.&K.Truempy"Data: 08 settembre 2011 18.22.24 GMT+02.00Oggetto: SOS LibyenSOS Libyen: Wie es gelingt, die Friedensbewegung zu paralisieren.…. Es ist wie im Falle Jugoslawien. Es ist wie im Falle Irak. Es ist wie bei den Kriegen Israels gegen Libanon und Gaza. Auch der Krieg der Nato-Staaten gegen Libyen folgt der Warden-Doktrin von 1998, der nach Colonel John A.Warden benannten Luftkriegsdoktrin der U.S. Air Force, die "ganz bewusst auf die Zerstörung der Lebensgrundlage eines Staates abzielt und insbesondere auch die Zivilbevölkerung selbst zum expliziten Ziel deklariert" (nach Jürgen Rose, Oberstleutnant der Bundeswehr). Das geschieht unter Missachtung von Artikel 54 des Zweiten Zusatzprotokolls zur Genfer Konvention, der es verbietet, "für die Zivilbevölkerung lebensnotwendige Objekte" anzugreifen oder zu zerstören ..…Der ganze Artikel: http://www.arbeiterfotografie.com/nordafrika/index-nordafrika-0026.htmlArbeiterfotografie - Forum für Engagierte FotografieAnneliese Fikentscher
Andreas Neumann
Merheimer Str. 107
D-50733 Köln
Tel: 0221/727 999
Fax: 0221/732 55 88
eMail: arbeiterfotografie@...
Web: www.arbeiterfotografie.comWeitere Artikel im Anhang:Der Angriff auf Libyen wurde schon vor Jahren geplant: Aufstand nach Plan (junge Welt)Afrika sorgt sich vor neuem Kolonialismus: BombenPropagandaKrieg (Ossietzky)
Aufstand nach Plan
Hintergrund. Zuverlässige Freunde des Westens – Über die Führungsriege der libyschen Rebellen
Von Knut Mellenthin
Die Führung des Nationalen Übergangsrats (NTC) der libyschen Rebellen hat am Wochenende erstmals die vollständige Zusammensetzung dieses Gremiums bekanntgegeben. Der NTC wurde am 27. Februar, nur zehn Tage nach Beginn des bewaffneten Aufstands, gebildet. Er bestand zunächst aus 31 Mitgliedern, die angeblich alle Regionen und Städte Libyens – also nicht nur die von den Rebellen kontrollierten – repräsentieren sollten. Aber nur 13 der Namen wurden damals veröffentlicht, die übrigen »aus Sicherheitsgründen« geheimgehalten.
Den Vorsitz des offiziell von allen Strömungen der Aufständischen anerkannten Führungsgremiums übernahm der erst wenige Tage zuvor zurückgetretene frühere Justizminister Mustafa Abdul Dschalil. Als Sprecher des NTC und stellvertretender Vorsitzender fungiert Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, Vorsitzender der Anwaltskammer von Bengasi, der sich als Verteidiger politischer Gefangener einen Namen gemacht hat. Mit der Zuständigkeit für »militärische Angelegenheiten« wurde Omar Al-Hariri betraut. Wegen der aufgeflogenen Planung eines Putsches gegen seinen früheren Kampfgefährten Muammar Ghaddafi war er 1975 zum Tode verurteilt, später aber zu einer Haftstrafe begnadigt worden. In den letzten Jahren bis zu seinem Anschluß an die Rebellen hatte er nur noch unter Hausarrest gestanden. Hariri hat seine verantwortliche Position inzwischen aus nicht bekanntgemachten Gründen verloren.
Verantwortlicher des NTC für »auswärtige Angelegenheiten und internationale Verbindungen« ist Mahmud Dschibril. Er hatte 1980 und 1985 akademische Abschlüsse in Politischen Wissenschaften und Strategischer Wirtschaftsplanung an der Universität von Pittsburgh (USA) gemacht und anschließend jahrelang dort unterrichtet. Außerdem entwickelte er unter amerikanischer Regie Kursprogramme für leitende Manager in arabischen Ländern.
Dschibril kehrte erst 2005 nach Libyen zurück und stieg auffallend schnell, kaum zwei Jahre später, zum Leiter der zentralen Arbeitsgruppen für Wirtschaftsreformen und Privatisierung auf. Er verdankte das, wie viele andere Reformer auch, der Protektion durch Ghaddafis Sohn Saif Al-Islam. In seinen Funktionen war Dschibril ein sehr geschätzter Gesprächspartner und Informant der amerikanischen Botschaft in Tripolis. Die Entwicklung enger und allseitiger Beziehungen zwischen beiden Ländern war eines seiner zentralen Themen.
Der 1952 geborene Politiker gilt als Freund des französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy und stand neben ihm, als dieser am 10. März bekanntgab, daß Frankreich als erstes Land der Welt den Nationalen Übergangsrat als einzige legitime Regierung Libyens anerkannt hatte. Dschibril ist auch Vorsitzender des von den Rebellen am 23. März gebildeten Exekutivrats. Das entspricht der Position des Premierministers der Übergangsregierung.
Die am Wochenende veröffentlichte Personalliste des NTC enthält nunmehr 40 Namen. Nach Angaben des Ratsvorsitzenden Dschalil soll das Gremium später auf 80 Mitglieder erweitert und dann anscheinend eine Art Übergangsparlament bis zu den versprochenen Wahlen bilden, die in acht Monaten stattfinden sollen.
Moslem-Schreck
Die New York Times wies am Wochenende darauf hin, daß unter den 40 Mitgliedern des Übergangsrats nur ein einziger identifizierbarer Islamist sei, und gab seinen Namen mit Lamin Belhadsch an. In dem Artikel hieß es weiter, daß er der Verantwortliche der Rebellen in der Hauptstadt Tripolis sei. Allerdings trägt der dortige Vorsitzende des örtlichen Militärrats die Vornamen Abdul Hakim. Außerdem wird diesem eine frühere Mitgliedschaft in den militanten Islamischen Kampfgruppen (LIFG) nachgesagt. Dagegen schreibt die New York Times ihrem Lamin Belhadsch eine Zugehörigkeit zum libyschen Zweig der Moslembruderschaft zu, der – so das Blatt – bei den meisten Libyern als »gemäßigt« gelte. Es ist demnach ungewiß, ob es sich wirklich um ein und dieselbe Person handelt.
In einer seltenen Koalition von links bis rechtsaußen wurde Abdul Hakim Belhadsch in den vergangenen Tagen als »Al-Qaida-Mann« oder sogar als »Spitzenführer von Al-Qaida« angegriffen. Für diese Gerüchte gibt es jedoch keine Anhaltspunkte. Obwohl sich Belhadsch nacheinander in US-amerikanischer und libyscher Haft befand, wurde er niemals vor Gericht gestellt. Aus rechtsstaatlicher Sicht gibt es also überhaupt keine erwiesenen Vorwürfe gegen ihn. Sein Name steht lediglich als Symbol für eine Kampagne, die mit dem Moslem-Schreck arbeitet, um bestimmte politische Vorstellungen und Ziele zu transportieren.
Weiter als alle anderen ging das israelische Online-Magazin DEBKAfile, das oft als Sprachrohr des Auslandsgeheimdienstes Mossad bezeichnet wird. Kennzeichnend für seine Veröffentlichungen ist, daß sie nicht nur schlecht recherchiert sind, sondern einen klaren Desinformationscharakter haben und zum Teil nicht nur übertrieben, sondern frei erfunden scheinen.
Am 28. August schrieb DEBKAfile, daß sich Tripolis nun in der Hand »kämpfender islamistischer Brigaden« befinde, »die zu Al-Qaida gehören«. »Keine westliche oder libysche Militärstreitmacht kann daran denken, in absehbarer Zukunft die Islamisten aus der libyschen Hauptstadt zu vertreiben. Damit hat Libyen ein neues Modell geschaffen, das die islamistischen Extremisten nur ermutigen kann, weitere Gewinne aufgrund der arabischen Revolte anzupeilen. Sie können mit Recht zur Schlußfolgerung gelangen, daß ihnen die NATO bei einer Rebellion zum Sturz irgendeines anderen autokratischen arabischen Herrschers zu Hilfe kommen wird. (…) Zum ersten Mal haben die Armeen der westlichen NATO-Länder sich direkt an der Einnahme einer arabischen Hauptstadt und dem Sturz ihres Herrschers durch extremistische islamische Kräfte beteiligt.«
Hier wird schon der hochdramatische Ton angeschlagen, der vielleicht in den kommenden Wochen immer stärker die Stimmungsmache der Mainstreammedien bestimmen wird – wenn es nämlich um die Stabilisierung und Neuordnung der Verhältnisse im Sinne der westlichen Helfer und Unterstützer der »libyschen Revolution« gehen wird. Die Marginalisierung islamistischer Kräfte wird dabei eines der zentralen Ziele sein.
Bestens vorbereitet
Zugleich dient das hysterische Al-Qaida-Geschrei aber auch dazu, von der einfachen Tatsache abzulenken, daß die politische Führung des Aufstands vom ersten Moment an in den zuverlässigen Händen von alten Bekannten der westlichen Regierungen lag und liegt. In einigen Fällen kann und muß man wohl sogar von westlichen Agenten sprechen. Islamische Fundamentalisten, die es unter den Rebellen vermutlich wirklich in erheblicher Anzahl gibt, dienten nur als Kanonenfutter. Sie haben ihre Schuldigkeit schon jetzt im wesentlichen getan.
Die libysche Revolution war offenbar von langer Hand geplant und vorbereitet worden. Die Kundgebungen gegen Ghaddafi, die von Anfang an mit Gewalttätigkeiten verbunden waren, begannen Mitte Februar und setzten sich am 17. Februar als sogenannter »Tag der Wut« landesweit fort. Innerhalb weniger Tage nahmen die Proteste vor allem im Osten des Landes, aber keineswegs nur dort, die Form eines bewaffneten Aufstands an.
Schon in den allerersten Tagen nach dem Beginn der Revolte setzte eine Welle von Rücktritten ein, die mit angeblichen Grausamkeiten und unverhältnismäßig schweren Militäreinsätzen gegen die Protestbewegung begründet wurden. Den Anfang machte am 21. Februar Libyens Botschafter in Indien, Ali Al-Essawi. Bevor er nach Indien mehr oder weniger abgeschoben worden war, gehörte Al-Essawi unter anderem als Minister für Wirtschaft, Handel und Investitionen zu den führenden Reformern seines Landes. In dieser Funktion war er ein guter Bekannter US-amerikanischer und anderer westlicher Diplomaten. Wenige Tage nach seinem Rücktritt wurde er gleichberechtigt neben Dschibril einer der beiden außenpolitischen Reisebotschafter der Rebellen und war unter anderem an deren Anerkennung durch Frankreich beteiligt.
Ebenfalls am 21. Februar trat Justizminister Dschalil zurück, am folgenden Tag schloß sich auch Innenminister Abdul Fatah Junis, ein Armeegeneral, den Aufständischen an. Schon am 20. Februar war Einwanderungsminister Ali Errischi zu den Rebellen übergelaufen. Allerdings ist dieser Politiker wenig bekannt, so daß sein Schritt kaum in den Medien notiert wurde. Regierungssprecher Mohamed Amer Baju distanzierte sich am 21. Februar öffentlich von Ghaddafi, und Generalstaatsanwalt Abdul-Rahman Al-Abbar erklärte am 25. Februar seinen Rücktritt.
Besonders zahlreich waren Protesterklärungen, teilweise verbunden mit Amtsniederlegungen, im diplomatischen Korps. In einem ganz kurzen Zeitraum zwischen 20. und 25. Februar gingen unter anderem folgende libyschen Botschafter auf Distanz zu ihrer Regierung: Abdel Rahman Schalgam (UNO), Ali Suleiman Aujali (USA), Mohamed Salaheddine Zarem (Frankreich) und Abdulmoneim Al-Honi (Arabische Liga). Ferner auch die Botschafter in Australien, Österreich, Bangladesch, Belgien, Indien, Indonesien, Jordanien, den Niederlanden, Polen, Ungarn, Schweden sowie Dutzende von hochrangigen Botschaftsmitarbeitern und Konsuln.
An so viel Spontaneität innerhalb weniger Tage läßt sich nicht glauben. Offensichtlich gab es innerhalb des politischen und diplomatischen Apparats schon seit einiger Zeit ein gut funktionierendes informelles Netzwerk, das in der Lage war, nach Beginn des Aufstands sehr schnell öffentlich in Erscheinung zu treten.
Noch eindeutiger zeigte sich die Existenz dieses Netzwerks in der unglaublichen Geschwindigkeit, mit der die Rebellen eine einheitliche Führung in Form des Übergangsrats präsentieren konnten. Alle vergleichbaren Beispiele aus anderen Ländern zeigen, daß das normalerweise zumindest ein Prozeß von mehreren Monaten ist, der selbst dann nicht widerspruchsfrei und gradlinig abläuft. Immerhin mußten in Libyen zuvor zehn bis zwanzig zum Teil grundverschieden ausgerichtete Gruppierungen unter einen Hut gebracht werden. Außerdem mußte das starke Mißtrauen vieler Altoppositioneller gegen die gerade erst aus dem Führungskreis um Ghaddafi ausgeschiedenen Politiker zumindest für eine Übergangszeit beruhigt und neutralisiert werden. Letztlich war das vermutlich nur dadurch zu erreichen, daß einige ausländische Regierungen und Dienste schon seit Monaten ein strammes Regiment über den »Vereinigungsprozeß« geführt hatten und sich auf maßgebliche Akteure verlassen konnten.
Ein alter Bekannter
Außenminister Mussa Kussa, der sich am 30. März den britischen Behörden stellte, war ein später Nachzügler der wie verabredet laufenden großen Absetzbewegung, ist aber zugleich eine ihrer interessantesten Figuren. Er galt viele Jahre lang als engster Vertrauter Ghaddafis. Zu Beginn des Aufstands hatte er die Rebellen noch ganz im Sinn der Regierungslinie als fanatische islamistische Terroristen dargestellt.
Bevor er im März 2009 ins Kabinett berufen wurde, war Kussa seit 1994, also stattliche 15 Jahre lang, Leiter des Auslandsgeheimdienstes gewesen. Schon zuvor war er jahrelang in diesem Bereich tätig, soll Attentate geplant, Morde an Exiloppositionellen in Auftrag gegeben und die Unterstützung von nationalen Befreiungsbewegungen organisiert haben. Praktisch alles, was Libyen und speziell Ghaddafi jemals vorgeworfen wurde, vom La-Belle-Anschlag (1986) bis zur Sprengung eines US-amerikanischen Passagierflugzeugs über dem schottischen Ort Lockerbie (1988), war auch mit Kussa in Verbindung gebracht worden.
Die US-Regierung zögerte dennoch nicht lange, schon am 4. April die gegen ihn verhängten Sanktionen aufzuheben und seine beschlagnahmten Konten freizugeben. Die EU folgte am 14. April. Noch schneller war Großbritannien gewesen, obwohl dort zugleich offiziell betont wurde, daß der Libyer keine strafrechtliche Immunität genieße, sondern – unter anderem wegen mutmaßlicher Mitwirkung an libyschen Waffenlieferungen für die IRA – vielleicht sogar mit einem Prozeß rechnen müsse.
Die britischen Behörden hatten andererseits jedoch nichts dagegen, daß Kussa nach einer gründlichen Befragung durch den Geheimdienst MI6 und die schottische Polizei – wegen Lockerbie – Mitte April das Land verließ, um in Katar an einer Libyen-Konferenz der Interventionsstaaten teilzunehmen. Kussa residiert seither überwiegend in dem Kleinstaat auf der arabischen Halbinsel, der sich in den vergangenen Jahren zu einem Zentrum internationaler Agententätigkeit und suspekter politischer Umtriebe entwickelt hat. Katar ist im übrigen der einzige arabische Staat, der sich offen und direkt an der Militärintervention der NATO beteiligt hat.
Presseberichten zufolge hat Kussa aufgrund seiner intimen Kenntnisse des libyschen Führungs- und Sicherheitsapparats eine wichtige Rolle als Berater der Interventen gespielt. Insbesondere soll er auch bei der Festlegung der Bombenziele geholfen haben. Er scheint nun darauf zu warten, daß er mit Hilfe seiner westlichen Freunde auf eine leitende Position im postrevolutionären Libyen gelangen kann. Die Stimmung der Rebellen ist allerdings gegen ihn. Außerdem wären die immer noch drohenden Strafverfahren in Großbritannien und den USA – die Reihe ließe sich vermutlich erweitern – hinderlich.
Es ist nicht unwahrscheinlich, daß der frühere Geheimdienstchef schon bei der Planung und Vorbereitung der libyschen »Revolution« mit interessierten westlichen Kreisen zusammengewirkt hat. Die Kontakte waren jedenfalls außerordentlich eng, spätestens seit er – hauptsächlich wohl im Auftrag und mit Wissen Ghaddafis – nach dem 11. September 2001 eng mit den westlichen Geheimdiensten bei der weltweiten Terrorismusbekämpfung kooperiert hatte. Er hatte sich darüber hinaus später als Außenminister sehr stark für eine Intensivierung der Beziehungen zum Westen, vor allem zu den USA, engagiert. Sensationalistische Quellen behaupten, Kussa habe schon seit 2001 als Agent für MI6 und CIA gearbeitet. Beweisen läßt sich das jedoch nicht. Es handelt sich um reine Mutmaßungen, die als Tatsachen präsentiert werden.
Der Mann der CIA
Eindeutig ist die CIA-Connection hingegen im Falle von Khalifa Haftar, der eine – allerdings nicht genau definierte – hohe Stellung in der militärischen Hierarchie der Rebellen einnimmt. Der ehemalige Oberst der libyschen Streitkräfte traf am 14. März (oder etwas früher) aus den USA kommend in Bengasi ein und stellte sich schon wenige Tage später als neuer Militärchef des Übergangsrates vor. Der frühere Innenminister Junis, der eigentlich diese Position innehatte, sei ihm von nun an untergeordnet, behauptete Haftar in selbstherrlichem Ton. Die Entscheidung im Rat fiel jedoch schließlich zugunsten von Junis.
Haftar war ein Ghaddafi-Anhänger der ersten Stunde und hatte 1969 als junger Kadett dessen Putsch gegen König Idris unterstützt. Sein Weg zum militanten »Regimegegner« begann, als er 1987 im Tschad zusammen mit über hundert anderen libyschen Soldaten gefangengenommen wurde, die unter seinem Kommando gestanden hatten. Ghaddafi hatte, ebenso wie Frankreich, jahrelang militärische Einmischung in die permanenten Bürgerkriege des Tschad betrieben. Nach seiner Gefangennahme stellte sich Haftar dem Herrscher des Tschad, Hissène Habré, und zugleich auch der CIA zur Verfügung, um eine gegen Ghaddafi gerichtete Truppe, genannt Libysche Nationalarmee (LNA), aufzubauen. Diese wurde der schon 1981 unter kräftiger US-amerikanischer Mithilfe gegründeten Nationalen Front für die Rettung Libyens (NFSL) angegliedert, die ein scheinbar demokratisches und liberales Programm vertritt.
Die LNA kam allerdings kaum zum Einsatz, da sich nach dem Sturz Habrés im Dezember 1990 die Beziehungen zwischen Libyen und Tschad wesentlich verbesserten. Hunderte von LNA-Mitgliedern wurden mit Hilfe der CIA evakuiert und landeten nach einer Odyssee durch mehrere afrikanische Staaten schließlich in den USA, wo sie Asyl erhielten.
Haftar selbst kam in Vienna, Virginia, unter, das nur wenige Kilometer von der CIA-Zentrale Langley entfernt ist. Er lebte dort fast zwanzig Jahre, bis er sich in Bengasi meldete, um die militärische Führung zu übernehmen. Selbst wenn Haftar schließlich nur zweiter Mann hinter Junis wurde, ist der Vorgang hoch auffällig: Ein Mann, der letztmals vor 23 Jahren Soldaten im Kriegseinsatz kommandiert hat, wird von den Rebellen fast augenblicklich in eine leitende Stellung gehievt. Ohne massive Protektion und Einflußnahme US-amerikanischer Dienststellen bliebe dieser rasante Aufstieg völlig unerklärlich. Berichten zufolge soll der Exoberst für eine Reihe militärischer Mißerfolge der Aufständischen verantwortlich gewesen sein.
Mit der Ermordung von Junis am 28. Juli unter immer noch unerklärten Umständen wurde möglicherweise der Weg für Haftar an die Spitze der Rebellenstreitkräfte freigeschossen. Das läßt einen geheimdienstlichen Hintergrund der Mordtat immerhin als denkbar und plausibel erscheinen. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie Haftar künftig in der postrevolutionären Hierarchie plaziert werden wird.
Bemerkenswert ist in diesem Zusammenhang, daß die von den USA aus geleitete und gelenkte NFSL während des gesamten Aufstands kaum in Erscheinung trat. Erst seit wenigen Wochen taucht ihr Generalsekretär, Ibrahim Abdulasis Sahad, verstärkt als Gesprächspartner westlicher Medien auf. Er war schon vor Ghaddafis Staatsstreich von 1969 Offizier und nachrichtendienstlicher Instrukteur in den königlichen Streitkräften, wurde nach der Revolution als Diplomat in mehrere Länder geschickt und setzte sich ungefähr um 1980 ab, um etwas später die NFSL zu gründen. Sahad hat jetzt damit begonnen, ein eigenes politisches Profil gegenüber dem NTC zu entwickeln – und spricht bereits wie Ghaddafi. So etwa, wenn er kategorisch behauptet, in Libyen gebe es keine Stammeskonflikte, »There is no tribal conflict«, und Libyen sei einig: »There is no problem of uniting Libya, because Libya is united.« (Interview mit ABC, World Today, 23. August) Man sollte auf den Namen Sahad achten: Er könnte sich künftig zur »Stimme Amerikas« entwickeln.
junge Welt, 31.08.2011
Bomben- und Propagandakrieg
Joachim Guilliard
Die Diskrepanzen in der Darstellung des Krieges in Libyen könnten kaum größer sein: Während westliche Medien vom Sieg des Volkes über Gaddafi berichten, wird der Sturm auf Tripolis in Lateinamerika, Afrika und Asien als imperiales Verbrechen verurteilt. So prangern 200 prominente afrikanische Künstler, Wissenschaftler und Politiker in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung Frankreich, die USA und Großbritannien als »Schurkenstaaten« an und bezeichnen deren Politik als »ernsthafte Gefahr einer neuen Kolonialisierung« des Kontinents. Hierzulande hingegen halten die tonangebenden Politiker und Publizisten hartnäckig am Bild einer »demokratischen Revolution« fest, deren Entfaltung durch die NATO geschützt wurde. Für den Nahost-Experten Volker Perthes, führender Kopf der regierungsnahen »Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik«, rechtfertigt der Erfolg das Vorgehen – trotz der von ihm angegeben Schätzung von 30.000 Kriegstoten.
Dabei war von Anfang an klar, daß sich die Aufständischen nur dank der militärischen Unterstützung der Kriegsallianz halten und durchsetzen konnten. Die geringe Stärke der Gegner Gaddafis und der anhaltend große Rückhalt für sein Regime zwang die NATO-Mächte schließlich, die letzte Rücksicht auf die UN-Resolution 1973, die bis dato als Feigenblatt gedient hatte, fallen zu lassen und mit eigenen Truppen die Führung beim Sturm auf die Hauptstadt zu übernehmen.
Als im Juli der Krieg gegen Libyen in den fünften Monat ging und die libyschen Rebellen trotz einer militärischen, finanziellen und politischen Unterstützung, wie sie kaum eine oppositionelle Bewegung je zuvor bekommen hatte, keine nennenswerte Fortschritte erzielten, ging die Stimmung innerhalb der Kriegsallianz in den Keller. »Von inneren Auseinandersetzungen gebeutelt« und »unterminiert durch das rücksichtslose und undisziplinierte Verhalten ihrer Milizen« scheine der Aufstand gegen Oberst Gaddafi in einen trüben Konkurrenzkampf zwischen verschiedenen Fraktionen und Stämmen überzugehen, klagte noch am 13. August die New York Times. >Frankreichs Verteidigungsminister Gérard Longuet sprach im französischen Fernsehen sogar schon von einem Scheitern der militärischen Operation. Die Dinge müßten sich in Tripolis bewegen, so Longuet. »Um es deutlich zu sagen, die Bevölkerung muß sich erheben.«
Die Großdemonstrationen im Juli, bei denen Hunderttausende in Tripolis und anderen Städten gegen die NATO und deren lokale Verbündete demonstrierten, machten diese Hoffnung zunichte. So blieb nur noch Plan B: den Feldzug am Boden selbst zu übernehmen und auch den »Aufstand in Tripolis« selbst zu inszenieren. Mit Beginn des islamischen Fastenmonats Ramadan begann die Kriegsallianz ihre Offensive, die Mitte August zum Durchbruch führte. Rebellenmilizen und aufständische Stammeskämpfer drangen in strategisch wichtige Städte rund um die Hauptstadt vor und schnitten ihr die Versorgungswege ab. Überraschend schnell gelang der Einmarsch in Tripolis.
Von einem »Sieg der Rebellen« oder gar einem »Sturz des Diktators durch das eigene Volk« wie beispielsweise die taz sogleich frohlockte, kann keine Rede sein. Ausschlaggebend für diese Erfolge waren allein die Intensivierung des Luftkrieges und der Einsatz von Elitetruppen der NATO an der Spitze der Rebellenmilizen. Indem die acht kriegführenden NATO-Mächte ihre Luftangriffe nun auf die vorgesehene Marschroute der Rebellenverbände konzentrierten, bombten sie diesen sukzessive den Weg frei; sie »weichten« die Angriffsziele für die Rebellen »auf«, wie es Derek Flood vom US-Think Tank Jamestown Foundation ausdrückt. Ein solches »Aufweichen« durch flächendeckende Bombardierung kostete allein in dem Dorf Majer, nahe der umkämpften Stadt Sliten, über 80 Männern, Frauen und Kindern das Leben.
Wie anschließend immer deutlicher ans Licht kam, hatten britische und französische Elite-Einheiten, unterstützt von jordanischen und katarischen Spezialkräften, die Führung beim Vormarsch übernommen. Diese Elitetruppen wiesen die NATO-Bomber ein und steuerten das Eingreifen der Kampfhubschrauber, die mit ihrer ungeheuren Feuerkraft den Angreifern den Weg freischossen. Sobald die Verteidiger sich gezwungen sahen, sich den Angreifern entgegenzustellen, wurden sie von Kampfjets und Hubschraubern unter Feuer genommen.
Auch libysche Spezialkräfte, die in den letzten Monaten von NATO-Staaten aufgebaut und trainiert worden waren, trugen zu den Erfolgen bei. Ein Teil von ihnen wurde zusammen mit erheblichen Mengen an Waffen und Ausrüstung vor dem Angriff nach Tripolis geschmuggelt, wo sie (lt. CBS News) bewaffnete »Schläferzellen« bildeten. Indem diese im entscheidenden Moment an zentralen Stellen zuschlugen, konnten sie den Eindruck vermitteln, die Hauptstadt wäre in kurzer Zeit in die Hände der Rebellen gefallen.
Diese Art der psychologischen Kriegführung spielte eine entscheidende Rolle. Mit einem Feuerwerk stark übertriebener oder erfundener Erfolgsmeldungen versuchte man, unter den Bewohnern der angegriffen Städte Panik und das Gefühl der Aussichtslosigkeit jeglichen Widerstands zu verbreiten. Indem die internationalen Medien solche Meldungen bereitwillig wiedergaben, verstärkten sie deren Wirkung, während die Zerstörung der staatlichen Radio- und Fernsehsender durch NATO-Bomben der Regierung die Möglichkeit zu Richtigstellungen nahm. Allein die Falschmeldung über die Gefangennahme der Gaddafi-Söhne, die weltweit verbreitet und vom Internationalen Strafgerichtshof bekräftigt wurde, habe den Rebellen einen erheblichen politischen und militärischen Vorteil verschafft, verkündete stolz der Chef des Übergangsrats, Mahmoud Dschibril. Viele Soldaten hätten daraufhin den Kampf aufgegeben (s. Reuters, 23.8.11) Doch in Deutschland erhält man mit manipulierten Bildern angeblicher Jubelfeiern in Tripolis das Bild eines Volkaufstandes aufrecht.
An ein baldiges Ende der Kämpfe in Libyen ist nicht zu denken, noch weniger an eine demokratische Entwicklung. Auch wenn die NATO und ihre Verbündeten endgültig die Oberhand im Land gewinnen, ist nicht zu erwarten, dass sich das Gros der Bevölkerung nun ohne weiteres den Eroberern unterordnet. Ohne militärische Unterstützung wird der »Nationale Übergangsrat« sich nicht lange als neue Regierung halten können. Planungen für die Entsendung von Besatzungstruppen sind daher offenbar seit langem in Gange. Die Ideen orientieren sich an der Kosovo-Mission, die nach Ende des Jugoslawienkrieges 1999 die Verwaltung der abtrünnigen serbischen Provinz übernahm. Ein Hilfeersuchen des Übergangsrats könnte das legale Mäntelchen liefern.
Die Unverfrorenheit, mit der Frankreich, Großbritannien, die USA und ihre Verbündeten vor den Augen der Welt ein Land angriffen, verwüsteten und die Regierung stürzten, ist für die Länder im Süden alarmierend. Viele Beobachter und Analysten, wie der indische Politologe Madhav Das Nalapat, sehen zu Recht einen Rückfall der UNO in die Zeit des Völkerbundes; der hatte sich in den 1920er Jahren zu einem Instrument geopolitischer Interessen vor allem Großbritanniens und Frankreichs entwickelt. Die Sorge der Afrikaner vor einem neuen Kolonialismus ist nicht übertrieben.
Erschienen in Ossietzky 18/2011
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