Kosmet (english)
The source of most texts below is
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/yugoslaviainfo/
---
HARADINAJ GETS BACK INTO POLITICS
The Hague tribunal's appeals chamber has backed a previous decision
granting former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, who is
currently on provisional release from tribunal custody, permission to
re-enter political life.
At the same time, the appeals judges have given a detailed account of
the process that Haradinaj must follow in order to get permission from
the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, when he wishes to carry
out particular activities of this kind.
Haradinaj is charged with 17 counts of crimes against humanity for his
alleged involvement in the abduction, abuse and murder of Serbs, Roma
and suspected Albanian collaborators in 1998, during his time in the
Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.
The appeals chamber ruled that any request sent by Haradinaj to UNMIK
will have to be copied to Hague prosecutors, who will then be allowed
to make a brief submission on the matter.
While UNMIK will have the final say in any given case, it will be
required to take the prosecution's point of view into account and will
have to explain the reasoning behind its decision.
Of the five judges who make up the appeals chamber, two - Judge
Mohamed Shahabuddeen and Judge Wolfgang Schomburg - opposed the move.
They argued that it was inappropriate for the trial chamber to give a
third party responsibility for striking the balance between the
accused's right to freedom of speech and considerations such as the
safety of witnesses and the likelihood that he will return to The
Hague to stand trial.
IWPR'S TRIBUNAL UPDATE No. 443 Part 2, March 10, 2006 - www.iwpr.net
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http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=March2006&file=World_News2006031122016.xml
Agence France-Presse
March 10, 2006
Ex-guerrilla commander is Kosovo PM
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Kosovo's parliament
yesterday elected Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla
commander whom Serbia accuses of war crimes, as the
province's prime minister.
Parliamentary deputies in the 120-seat assembly
endorsed Ceku's candidacy and his new government by 65
votes for, while 33 were against the decision. Five
deputies abstained.
"The parliament of Kosovo, with 65 votes, elected Agim
Ceku as new prime minister of Kosovo," parliament
speaker Kole Berisha said at the session.
Ceku, who led ethnic Albanian rebels against Serbian
forces during Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, was nominated
prime minister last week after Bajram Kosumi was
forced into resigning by his own party.
The 45-year-old's appointment comes a week before the
resumption of UN-backed talks to determine the future
status of the province, whose ethnic Albanian majority
is seeking independence from Serbia against strong
opposition from Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority.
His nomination had received the backing of local
Albanian leaders and senior international
representatives including Soren Jessen-Petersen, the
head of the UN mission that has run Kosovo since the
war.
Kosovo was put under UN administration in mid-1999
after a Nato bombing campaign drove out Serbian forces
loyal to then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic
that were cracking down on the Albanian rebels.
The international community has insisted Kosovo's
political changes were an internal matter, but Ceku
won the key support of Western diplomats because they
believe he is the man that can best push through
democratic reforms in the province.
"(Kosovo's) status can only come with standards,
especially as regards minority protection and
decentralisation measures, the implementation of which
must be urgently intensified," EU enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
Ceku has supervised the demilitarisation of the ethnic
Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas he
once headed and its transformation into the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC), becoming its commander....
---
Kosovo PM arrest warrant withdrawn for "political reasons" - Serbian
official
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - March 24, 2006, Friday,
Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1240
gmt 24 Mar 06
Belgrade, 24 March: A member of the Serbian negotiation team on the
status of Kosovo, Marko Jaksic, has assessed that Interpol's arrest
warrant for the Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] prime minister and former OVK
[Kosovo Liberation Army - KLA; UCK in Albanian] commander, Agim Ceku,
was withdrawn for political reasons and that this move represents the
triumph of force over the law.
In a statement to SRNA, he said that the withdrawal of the arrest
warrant was a move "outside all legal norms and established
international relations".
"The arrest warrant for Ceku, a man who fought in two wars, was
withdrawn for political reasons," Jaksic told SRNA.
He said that the withdrawal of the arrest warrant would not change the
attitude of Serbs towards Ceku, who they "hold responsible for the
crimes in Gospic [1991], [Operation] Medacki dzep [Medak Pocket 1993],
during Operation Storm [1995] and later in Kosmet".
"For Serbs, Ceku remains a war criminal, a man with blood on his
hands," Jaksic said.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro)
March 11, 2006
New Government for Kosovo
Ceku: Independence as soon as possible
Kosovo Parliament yesterday elected by majority of
votes new Government led by Agim Ceku.
Addressing the deputies he said that the new
government would work on fulfillment of all being
requested from it 'in order to get independent and
sovereign Kosovo as soon as possible'.
Almost all deputies of opposition political parties
criticized his candidacy and addressing.
Deputies of Hashim Thaqui's [Thaci's] DPK and Vetor
Suroi's ORA shall not support election of new Prime
Minister and Government.
These parties are dissatisfied at the fact that Ceku
suggested ministers from the cabinet of former prime
minister Bayram Kosumi.
'This is reincarnation of the worst evil. We have new
Government with the same people', Thaqui said.
Suroi accused Ceku that he had not offered program and
asked on what grounds he was requesting support.
DSK vice-president Kolj Berisha has been elected new
Kosovo Parliament Speaker.
UNMIK's Chief Soren Jesen Petersen expressed assurance
that the Parliament led by Berisha would be the
leading institution in developing of democracy in
Kosovo and that it would continue strengthening its
legislative role.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=19074&NrIssue=417&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia)
March 24, 2006
Kosovo's Serbs demand Petersen's replacement
Pristina - Kosovo's Serbs urged UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan to replace his Envoy to Kosovo Soren Jessen
Petersen because of the calls of the latter for
ignoring the international warrants on leaders of
Kosovo's Albanians issued by Serbian authorities.
The Head of UN Mission to Kosovo Soren Jessen Petersen
called recently the Western Powers to ignore the
international warrants for the Kosovo's Prime Minister
Agim Ceku and the opposition leader Hashim Thaci,
issued by the Serbian judicial authorities for their
involvement in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
"The role of arbiter Petersen assumes by pronouncing
verdicts with no previous proceedings is pointed
directly against the international system and
compromises severely the international law and
credibility of UN", says the statement released late
Thursday by the Serbian National Council of Kosovo.
For years ago, Serbian authorities issued a warrant
against Ceku for committing genocide over the Serbian
population before and after NATO stationing in Kosovo,
while Thaci is wanted for committing acts of terrorism
in Kosovo in 1997.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85105&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 25, 2006
After Each Vienna Meeting Kosovo Gets Closer to Independence
Pristina - After each meeting between Pristina and
Belgrade delegations in Vienna Kosovo gets closer to
its independence, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi
Haziri stated cited by RTK.
At the same time Haziri admitted that despite the
talks being constructive after the two meetings
positions of Pristina and Belgrade remain totally
different.
---
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060324-121647-2333r
United Press International
March 25, 2006
Serbia: U.N. supports Kosovo Albanians
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - A Serbian government
official has accused the U.N. civilian mission in
Kosovo of supporting ethnic Albanian separatists in
the southern Serbian province.
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, president of the Serbian
government coordinating committee for Kosovo, in a
letter to Soren Jessen-Petersen, the chief of the U.N.
mission in Kosovo, charged that Jessen-Petersen was
one of the "most influential promoters of the goals of
Albanian separatists."
Raskovic-Ivic's letter was in reaction to
Jessen-Petersen's call that Western countries ignore
Serbia's arrest warrant on Agim Ceku, Kosovo's prime
minister, for alleged war crimes in Kosovo in 1999.
In March 1999, the U.S. led-NATO forces bombarded
Serbia and Montenegro, at the time ruled by the
Serbian [president] Slobodan Milosevic, to prevent
what it described as a humanitarian catastrophe of
ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo because of abuses by
Serbian military and police forces.
After three months of air attacks, NATO troops entered
Kosovo in June 1999 and the United Nations set up its
administration in the province where there are
1,800,000 ethnic Albanians and 200,000 Serbs.
---
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/news/20060324p2g00m0in045000c.html
Associated Press
March 25, 2006
Interpol removes Kosovo premier from list of wanted persons
PARIS - Interpol has removed Kosovo's recently named
prime minister from its list of wanted persons because
of his new status, the international police agency
said Friday, though Serbia still accuses him of war
crimes.
Interpol included former rebel commander Agim Ceku at
the request of Serbia, but reviewed the case after
Ceku was elected prime minister by Kosovo's parliament
earlier this month.
Interpol informed its member countries and the U.N.
mission in Kosovo late Thursday that Ceku had been
removed from the list, an Interpol official said.
The U.N. mission in Kosovo, which has said it does not
recognize the Serbian warrant against Ceku, welcomed
the decision.
Ceku and Hashim Thaci, also wanted by Serbian police,
were leaders of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation
Army, the guerrilla group that fought Serb forces
during province's 1998-1999 war.
Both are now part of U.N.-sponsored talks to resolve
the future status of the disputed province.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85176&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 26, 2006
Self-Determination Movement Activists Raid UNMIK Vehicles in Kosovska
Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica - Activists of the
Self-Determination Movement have launched a raid
against vehicles of the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in Kosovska
Mitrovica, Kosovapress reported.
On Saturday prootesters let the air out of the tyres
of dozens of UN vehicles and sprayed on the vehicles
the word "End".
The Self-Determination Movement opposes any form of
negotiation with the Serbian government over the
future status of the southern province of Kosovo.
It says the citizens of the province have to determine
the status.
---
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http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=85204&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 26, 2006
Macedonian Police Found Secret Bunker Full of Weapons
Tetovo - During an operation Macedonian police found a
secret bunker full of illegal weapons, Makfax agency
informs.
According to information from Macedonian Interior
Ministry the bunker is situated between villages of
Brodec and Vesala in Tetovo region.
In the bunker the police found automatic rifles, a few
grenade guns, shells, anti-tank mines and munitions.
The police are investigating the case.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85243&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 27, 2006
Economic Situation in Kosovo Catastrophic
Belgrade - "The Serbian energy sector is at all times
depending on Kosovo coals, since this is part of
Serbian territory and its wealth", Nenad Popovic,
leader of the economic team of the Serbian cabinet for
Kosovo and Southern Serbia, has said cited by the
Serbian Blic newspaper.
The platform for the talks on the final status of
Kosovo is in preparation and an economic team has been
formed aiming to prepare a strategy for a long-term
economic development of Southern Serbia and the
Serbian community in Kosovo.
It was a mistake, according to him, that everyone is
discussing the status talks and they forget that a
process of privatization is going on, that there was
not a single day without electricity cuts, and that
workers are losing their jobs.
The economic situation in Kosovo is disastrous,
Popovic stated.
The province has the highest unemployment level in
Europe – 90% among the members of the Serbian
community in the province, and up to 70% in the
Albanian community in 2005.
---
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28394571.htm
Reuters
March 28, 2006
Stabbing in flashpoint Kosovo town; Serbs protest
MITROVICA, Serbia and Montenegro - A Serb man was
stabbed in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica in Kosovo
on Tuesday and hundreds of Serbs gathered at the scene
to demonstrate, hospital officials and witnesses said.
The 19-year-old Serb was "seriously wounded" when he
was stabbed in the stomach, hospital director Milan
Ivanovic told Reuters.
Witnesses said he was attacked on the main bridge by
two men who had crossed from the mainly Albanian
south.
Mitrovica, in the north of Serbia's United Nations-run
province, has been divided at the river between Serbs
and Albanians since the 1998-99 war and has seen some
of the worst postwar violence in Kosovo.
Clashes at the bridge in March 2004 sparked two days
of Kosovo-wide Albanian riots that killed 19 people
and destroyed hundreds of Serb properties.
NATO soldiers and U.N. police officers have relaxed
security at the bridge over the past year.
Negotiations are under way to decide the province's
fate, with the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority
pushing for independence seven years after NATO bombs
drove out Serb forces....
---
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28440100.htm
Reuters
March 28, 2006
Police close bridge in Kosovo town after stabbing
By Branislav Krstic
MITROVICA, Serbia and Montenegro - U.N. police in
Kosovo closed the main bridge in the flashpoint town
of Mitrovica on Tuesday after a Serb man was stabbed
and hundreds of Serbs protested at the scene.
The 19-year-old Serbwas "seriously wounded" when he
was stabbed in the stomach on the main bridge in the
ethnically divided town, hospital director Milan
Ivanovic told Reuters.
Police could not confirm witnesses' accounts that the
attackers had crossed from the mainly Albanian south.
The U.N. police commander in the town said the bridge
was closed for the time being to all but U.N. traffic.
Located in the north of Serbia's United Nations-run
province, Mitrovica has been divided between Serbs and
Albanians since the 1998-99 war and has since seen
some of the worst post-war violence in Kosovo.
Regional police spokesman Sami Mehmeti confirmed a
stabbing incident on the bridge that spans the River
Ibar dividing the town into Serb and Albanian halves.
"The protest has been peaceful," he said.
Clashes at the bridge in March 2004 sparked two days
of Albanian riots across Kosovo that killed 19 people
and destroyed hundreds of Serb properties.
NATO soldiers and U.N. police officers have relaxed
security in the town over the past year, eventually
opening the bridge to civilian vehicles.
The province of 2 million people is entering a
sensitive phase, with negotiations under way in Vienna
to decide its fate.
The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is expected to
clinch independence, seven years after NATO bombs
drove out Serb forces....
Around half of Kosovo's Serb population fled a wave of
revenge [sic] attacks after the war, when the United
Nations took control. Around 100,000 remain, many in
isolated enclaves targeted by sporadic violence.
North Mitrovica is the Serbs' last urban centre and
they have resisted attempts to reintegrate with the
south [sic]....
---
Ceku must face justice
Halifax Herald - March 28, 2006
By SCOTT TAYLOR / On Target
LAST WEEK, I just happened to be in Belgrade attending a conference on
the future status of Kosovo when the funeral for former Serbian
president Slobodan Milosevic was held.
True to form, the western media's coverage of these events presented
accused war criminal Milosevic as evil incarnate and the Serbian
people, by extension, as something bordering on the subhuman.
Almost entirely lost in the frenzy to heap responsibility for a
decade's worth of death and destruction into Slobo's coffin was the
announcement that the Albanians in Kosovo have just selected a new
prime minister.
To have examined this development in the slightest would have served
to spread around some of the blame and to illustrate that the Serbs
certainly did not have a monopoly on war crimes during those bloody
civil wars. In fact, if one only casually glances at the resume of the
incoming prime minister, Agim Ceku, it becomes apparent that his
election flies in the face of international justice, foreshadows more
violence in Kosovo and ignores the sacrifices and valour of our
Canadian Forces.
In summary, Ceku, an Albanian Kosovar by birth, began his military
career as an officer in the former federal Yugoslavian army. When the
initial Yugoslav breakup occurred in 1991, Ceku was quick to switch
his loyalty to the Croatian cause. As a colonel in the Croatian army,
Ceku commanded the notorious 1993 operation in what is known as the
Medak Pocket.
It was here that the men of the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry came face to face with the savagery of which
Ceku was capable. Over 200 Serbian inhabitants of the Medak Pocket
were slaughtered in a grotesque manner (the bodies of female rape
victims were found after being burned alive). Our traumatized troops
who buried the grisly remains were encouraged to collect evidence and
were assured that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
Nevertheless in 1995, Ceku, by then trained by U.S. instructors as a
general of artillery, was still at large. In fact, he was the officer
responsible for shelling the Serbian refugee columns and for targeting
the UN-declared "safe" city of Knin during the Croatian offensive
known as Operation Storm. Some 500 innocent civilians perished in
those merciless barrages, and senior Canadian officers who witnessed
the slaughter demanded that Ceku be indicted. Once again, their pleas
fell of deaf ears.
Just a few months after the Storm atrocities, Canada's own Louise
Arbour began making a name for herself as the chief prosecutor for the
war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Despite the Canadian connection to
these alleged crimes, Arbour and her lawyers chose instead to pursue
more "politically prominent" individuals such as Milosevic, and other
senior Serbs, while nothing was done to bring Ceku to justice.
Fast-forward to January 1999, and the world's attention begins to
focus on a war-ravaged Kosovo. With the blessing of the U.S. State
Department and NATO, Ceku takes his retirement (at age 37) from the
Croatian army and is pronounced supreme commander of the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
Throughout the air campaign against Yugoslavia, Ceku was portrayed as
a loyal ally and he was frequently present at NATO briefings with top
generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson.
Under the terms of the June 1999 Kosovo peace deal, Ceku's Albanian
guerrillas were to be disarmed and reconstituted into a UN-sponsored
(non-military) disaster relief organization known as the Kosovo
Protection Corps. But despite the fact that they now collected UN
paycheques, Ceku's men never gave up their guns — nor their quest for
a Greater Albania
From the armed Albanian incursions into southern Serbia in 2000 — and
Macedonia in 2001 — right up until the violent pogrom unleashed
against Kosovo Serbs in March 2004, Ceku's brand of violence, hatred
and ethnic cleansing has remained unchanged.
Now he is being hailed as a political leader, and the world is once
again turning a blind eye to his crimes.
Hopefully, Canada at least will respect the eyewitness testimony of
our own peacekeepers and finally insist that Ceku face the same
justice that was demanded of Slobodan Milosevic.
Presenting the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry with a belated Governor General's unit
citation for the Medak Pocket battle will remain a hollow gesture
until Ceku is held responsible for his atrocities.
(staylor@...)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/492868.html
Copyright 2006 Halifax Herald
Posted for Fair Use only.
---
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.282444245&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy)
March 31, 2006
KOSOVO: OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSES GOVERNMENT OF CRIME AND CORRUPTION
Pristina - An ethnic Albanian opposition leader in
Kosovo, Hasim Taci, on Friday accused the local
government of crime and corruption at a moment when
the province's future and the final status were being
decided.
Taci, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of
Kosovo and former commander of the Kosovo Liberation
Army (UCK) that started a rebellion against Belgrade
rule in 1998, told local media that the government was
a "shame for the citizens of Kosovo".
Kosovo, whose majority ethnic Albanians demand
independence, has been under United Nations control
since NATO bombing pushed Serbian forces out of the
province in 1999, and talks are currently underway on
its final status and municipal reorganization which
would grant more autonomy to non-Albanian minorities.
Taci, who heads the ethnic Albanian delegation at the
talks held in Vienna, said that the government hasn't
done enough to stimulate some 200,000 Serbs who have
fled the province since 1999 to return home.
The international community has demanded that Kosovo
authorities fulfill a set of internationally accepted
democratic and human rights standards before the final
status is decided, but Taci said that "this government
can fulfill nothing except crime".
He didn't elaborate his accusations, but it is
generally perceived that Kosovo has become a haven for
organized crime, drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Over the past year Kosovo has changed three prime
ministers, and another UCK leader, general Agim Ceku,
took over the government this month. "This government
has comprised everything that is the worst," said
Taci. But he added that there were "political forces
and civic society which can fulfill the expectations".
Belgrade opposes Kosovo independence and considers
Taci and Ceku war criminals, but Interpol has recently
withdrawn Belgrade's warrant for Ceku's arrest, as it
did earlier for Taci.
Taci is also known by his war-time nickname "the
Snake", and Belgrade sees his rhetoric as nothing but
a part of internal power struggle among ethnic
Albanian leaders, following the recent death of
president Ibrahim Rugova whose authority was
unchallenged.
---
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
All Rights Reserved
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 29, 2006 Wednesday
LENGTH: 137 words
HEADLINE: Serb leader warns Kosovo stabbing could lead to "escalation
of ethnic violence"
BODY: Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Pale, 29 March: the deputy head of the Serb National Council of
Kosovo-Metohija, Rada Trajkovic, has warned that last night's attack in
the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, in which a Serb youth was
stabbed by three Albanians, could lead to more attacks on Kosovo Serbs
and to an escalation of ethnic violence, similar to what happened in
March 2004.
Trajkovic told the Pale-based OSM TV that the arrival of 600 German
soldiers was expected in Kosovo-Metohija over the next few days and
warned that the deployment of reinforcements could be a result of
reports received by Kfor [NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force] indicating
a possible escalation of Albanian violence in Kosovo-Metohija.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0740
gmt 29 Mar 06
LOAD-DATE: March 29, 2006
---
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 28, 2006 Tuesday
LENGTH: 194 words
HEADLINE: Serb youth stabbed in divided Kosovo town, police reportedly
failed to act
BODY: Text of report by Serbian privately-owned TV Pink on 28 March
[Presenter] The day has not been quiet in Serbia, after all. Namely,
Tanjug [news agency] news has reported that Milisav Ilincic, aged 19,
was this evening injured in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica
after he was repeatedly stabbed with a knife; he was immediately taken
to a health centre in the town.
The deputy director of the health centre, Dr Milan Ivanovic, said that
Ilincic had been injured to the head and stomach, adding that he was
currently being treated at the centre. The attack took place at 1815
[1615 gmt] on the very edge of the main Ibar River bridge separating
[Serb-populated] northern from the [Albanian-populated] southern part of
Mitrovica, and it took place right under the nose of the Kosovo police,
who failed to intervene.
Around 200 Serbs immediately gathered in the vicinity of the main Ibar
bridge, blocking all access roads leading to the main bridge as a sign
of protest. According to eye-witnesses, Ilincic was attacked by three
Albanian young men who escaped to the southern part of the town after
the incident.
Source: TV Pink, Belgrade, in Serbian 1748 gmt 28 Mar 06
LOAD-DATE: March 28, 2006
---------------
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.283264486&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy)
April 3, 2006
BALKANS: SERBS FEARS OF "GREATER ALBANIAN" CONSPIRACY
Belgrade - Ethnic Albanian leaders, the
Muslim-majority province of Kosovo and leaders in
Serbia's sister republic of Montenegro are conspiring
to create a "Greater Albania" and dissolve the state
union of Serbia and Montenegro - the last remnant of
the former Yugoslavia - Serb politicians charged on
Monday.
The allegations came on the same day that Serb and
ethnic Albanian negotiators met in Vienna for the
third round UN-mediated talks this year on Kosovo's
future status.
Ethnic Albanians and Montenegrins are both working for
the same goal, which is the creation of "Greater
Albania," the Serbian government's coordinator for
Kosovo, Sanda Raskovic Ivic, told journalists in
Belgrade on Monday.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who form a 1.7 million
majority against some 100,000 Serbs remaining in the
province, demand nothing short of independence.
Montenegrins are scheduled to hold a referendum on
secession from Serbia on 22 May.
"Montenegro political leaders are guided by
anti-Serbian blindness," said Raskovic Ivic, adding
that for the sake of retaining power, they were ready
to sacrifice Montenegro and push it to become a part
of "Greater Albania".
The speculation in Serbian political circles over an
ethnic Albanian-Montenegrin conspiracy was fuelled by
remarks made on Sunday by Kosovo's veteran political
leader, Adem Demaqi, who said the ethnic Albanian
minority's vote might be crucial in Montenegro's
independence referendum.
Ethnic Albanians make over five percent of
Montenegro's 620,000 population, and their votes might
tip the balance in what is expected to be a tight
race.
Kosovo and Montenegro might unite once they became
independent, and Montenegro's prime minister, Milo
Djukanovic, who is spearheading the independence
drive, would be acceptable to ethnic Albanians as
prime minister.
"It would be the right thing for Albanians to help
Montenegro achieve independence, because in doing so
they could realise their own interests," Demaqi said.
Commenting on Demaqi's statement, a Kosovo Serb
leader, Milan Ivanovic, said that it was proof that
"Podgorica [the Montenegrin capita] and Pristina are
making synchronised moves."
Both capitals have similar interests, he said, warning
that ethnic Albanians in Montenegro would be likely to
join a "Greater Albanian state" if the republic gained
independence.
=== FLASHBACK ===
http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/sept01/hed4073a.shtml
The Halifax Herald Limited, September 10, 2001
Contributed
Indicted war criminal Agim Ceku still collects a UN paycheque
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
WITH SOME 200 troops now on the ground in Macedonia, as part of NATO´s
latest intervention force, it´s about time somebody started seriously
questioning Canada´s long-range Balkan policy.
Throughout the decade of bloody civil wars in the 90s, which
accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Canadian soldiers have
been on continuous deployment to the region. Originally serving as UN
peacekeepers (who evolved into NATO peacemakers by the time of the
Kosovo crisis), Canada´s military had become a belligerent in this
complex conflict. Despite our oft changing role, one constant that has
remained is the reality experienced by our frontline soldiers, which
is rarely reflected by the Western (read: U.S. State Department
inspired) media portrayals of the ongoing Yugoslavian tragedy.
The most vivid examples of this dichotomy became evident during the
1999, 78-day NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia.. As cockney
spokesman Jamie Shea took to the airwaves to demonize the Serbian
people and justify NATO´s attacks, respected veteran officers such as
General Lewis Mackenzie and Colonel Don Ethell spoke out to publicly
denounce Canada´s participation in the bombing. Having witnessed
first-hand the multi-factional hatred which pervades the Balkan
theatre, Canadian soldiers are unwilling to assign blame and/or take
sides in this brutal civil war. However, driven by U.S. interests and
fuelled by a jingoistic media corps, NATO leaders have not been so
hesitant to play favourites.
This current crisis in Macedonia originated last March with Albanian
guerrillas attacking from inside NATO-occupied Kosovo. The guns
carried by the Albanians were the same weapons that NATO was to have
removed from the Kososvo Liberation Army (known as the UCK) back in
1999. However, over the past two years with a powerful 40,000 strong
occupation force, NATO has been unwilling and/or unable to strip these
Albanian (UCK) guerrillas of their arsenal. Only now that a wave of
terror has been successfully exported into heretofore peaceful
Macedonia, and the UCK have seized control of some 30 per cent of
Macedonia territory, has NATO decided to intervene.
The Canadian Combat Group which has been hastily dispatched from
service in Bosnia to participate in the Macedonia mission is equipped
with new Coyote reconnaissance vehicles. These state of the art
armoured personnel carriers have been roundly praised by NATO
spokesmen for "providing a vital asset in monitoring the flow of
illegal arms across Macedonian/Kosovo border."
Disgruntled Macedonian citizens are correct in asking "if such a
surveillance capability existed within NATO´s arsenal-why wasn´t it
employed to prevent Albanians from entering Macedonia in the first place?"
A similar stumper could be posed to NATO spokesmen regarding their
reluctance to arrest the UCK´s military figurehead General Agim Ceku,
an indicted war criminal.. Many of our peacekeepers witnessed the
barbarism committed by Ceku´s troops in Croatia in 1993 and 1995 and
it is largely on the strength of Canadian soldiers testimony that The
Hague War Crimes Tribunal has been forced to issue this rogue
commander a sealed indictment.
Agim Ceku, an Albanian Kosovar by birth, began his military career as
an officer in the former federal Yugoslavian Army (JNA). When the
initial Yugoslav break-up occurred in 1991, Ceku was quick to switch
his loyalty to the Croatian cause of independence. As a colonel in the
Croatian army, Ceku commanded the notorious 1993 operation now known
as the Medak Pocket.
It was here that the men of the Second Battalion Princess Patricia´s
Canadian Light Infantry came face to face with the vulgar savagery of
which Ceku was capable. Over 200 Serbian inhabitants of the Medak
Pocket were slaughtered in a grotesque manner (female rape victims
were found after being burned alive). Our traumatized troops that
buried the grisly remains were encouraged to collect evidence.
Nevertheless in 1995, Ceku, by then a general of artillery, was still
at large. In fact, he was the officer responsible for shelling the
Serbian refugee columns and for targeting the UN "safe" city of Knin
during the Croatian offensive known as Operation Storm.
Just a few months after the Storm atrocities, Canada´s own Louise
Arbour began making a name for herself as the chief prosecutor for The
Hague tribunal. Despite the Canadian connection to these alleged
crimes, Arbour and her lawyers chose instead to pursue more
"politically prominent" individuals and seemingly little was done to
bring Ceku to justice.
Fast forward to January 1999 and the world´s attention begins to focus
on a war ravaged Kosovo. With the blessing of the U.S. State
Department, Agim Ceku took his retirement (at age 37) from the
Croatian army and was pronounced Supreme Commander of the Kosovo
Liberation Army (UCK).
Throughout the air campaign against Yugoslavia, Ceku was portrayed as
a loyal ally and he was frequently present at the NATO briefings with
top generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson.
Under terms of the Kosovo peace deal, Ceku´s Albanian guerrillas were
to be disarmed and re-constituted into a UN sponsored, (non-military)
disaster relief organization known as the Kosovo Protection Corps
(KPC). ButCeku´s UCK never gave up their guns - nor their quest for a
Greater Albania.
Although he is nominally maintaining an ´arms-length´ posture towards
his former comrades, Agim Ceku is still worshipped as a saviour by
both the UCK troops and Albanian-minority in Macedonia.
As this indicted war criminal continues to enjoy his freedom, bask in
public attention, and collect a UN paycheque, our Canadian soldiers
are risking their lives to disarm his UCK in Macedonia.
All in the name of peace and justice.
The source of most texts below is
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/yugoslaviainfo/
---
HARADINAJ GETS BACK INTO POLITICS
The Hague tribunal's appeals chamber has backed a previous decision
granting former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, who is
currently on provisional release from tribunal custody, permission to
re-enter political life.
At the same time, the appeals judges have given a detailed account of
the process that Haradinaj must follow in order to get permission from
the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, when he wishes to carry
out particular activities of this kind.
Haradinaj is charged with 17 counts of crimes against humanity for his
alleged involvement in the abduction, abuse and murder of Serbs, Roma
and suspected Albanian collaborators in 1998, during his time in the
Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.
The appeals chamber ruled that any request sent by Haradinaj to UNMIK
will have to be copied to Hague prosecutors, who will then be allowed
to make a brief submission on the matter.
While UNMIK will have the final say in any given case, it will be
required to take the prosecution's point of view into account and will
have to explain the reasoning behind its decision.
Of the five judges who make up the appeals chamber, two - Judge
Mohamed Shahabuddeen and Judge Wolfgang Schomburg - opposed the move.
They argued that it was inappropriate for the trial chamber to give a
third party responsibility for striking the balance between the
accused's right to freedom of speech and considerations such as the
safety of witnesses and the likelihood that he will return to The
Hague to stand trial.
IWPR'S TRIBUNAL UPDATE No. 443 Part 2, March 10, 2006 - www.iwpr.net
---
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=March2006&file=World_News2006031122016.xml
Agence France-Presse
March 10, 2006
Ex-guerrilla commander is Kosovo PM
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Kosovo's parliament
yesterday elected Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla
commander whom Serbia accuses of war crimes, as the
province's prime minister.
Parliamentary deputies in the 120-seat assembly
endorsed Ceku's candidacy and his new government by 65
votes for, while 33 were against the decision. Five
deputies abstained.
"The parliament of Kosovo, with 65 votes, elected Agim
Ceku as new prime minister of Kosovo," parliament
speaker Kole Berisha said at the session.
Ceku, who led ethnic Albanian rebels against Serbian
forces during Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, was nominated
prime minister last week after Bajram Kosumi was
forced into resigning by his own party.
The 45-year-old's appointment comes a week before the
resumption of UN-backed talks to determine the future
status of the province, whose ethnic Albanian majority
is seeking independence from Serbia against strong
opposition from Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority.
His nomination had received the backing of local
Albanian leaders and senior international
representatives including Soren Jessen-Petersen, the
head of the UN mission that has run Kosovo since the
war.
Kosovo was put under UN administration in mid-1999
after a Nato bombing campaign drove out Serbian forces
loyal to then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic
that were cracking down on the Albanian rebels.
The international community has insisted Kosovo's
political changes were an internal matter, but Ceku
won the key support of Western diplomats because they
believe he is the man that can best push through
democratic reforms in the province.
"(Kosovo's) status can only come with standards,
especially as regards minority protection and
decentralisation measures, the implementation of which
must be urgently intensified," EU enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn said on Thursday.
Ceku has supervised the demilitarisation of the ethnic
Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas he
once headed and its transformation into the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC), becoming its commander....
---
Kosovo PM arrest warrant withdrawn for "political reasons" - Serbian
official
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - March 24, 2006, Friday,
Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1240
gmt 24 Mar 06
Belgrade, 24 March: A member of the Serbian negotiation team on the
status of Kosovo, Marko Jaksic, has assessed that Interpol's arrest
warrant for the Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] prime minister and former OVK
[Kosovo Liberation Army - KLA; UCK in Albanian] commander, Agim Ceku,
was withdrawn for political reasons and that this move represents the
triumph of force over the law.
In a statement to SRNA, he said that the withdrawal of the arrest
warrant was a move "outside all legal norms and established
international relations".
"The arrest warrant for Ceku, a man who fought in two wars, was
withdrawn for political reasons," Jaksic told SRNA.
He said that the withdrawal of the arrest warrant would not change the
attitude of Serbs towards Ceku, who they "hold responsible for the
crimes in Gospic [1991], [Operation] Medacki dzep [Medak Pocket 1993],
during Operation Storm [1995] and later in Kosmet".
"For Serbs, Ceku remains a war criminal, a man with blood on his
hands," Jaksic said.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro)
March 11, 2006
New Government for Kosovo
Ceku: Independence as soon as possible
Kosovo Parliament yesterday elected by majority of
votes new Government led by Agim Ceku.
Addressing the deputies he said that the new
government would work on fulfillment of all being
requested from it 'in order to get independent and
sovereign Kosovo as soon as possible'.
Almost all deputies of opposition political parties
criticized his candidacy and addressing.
Deputies of Hashim Thaqui's [Thaci's] DPK and Vetor
Suroi's ORA shall not support election of new Prime
Minister and Government.
These parties are dissatisfied at the fact that Ceku
suggested ministers from the cabinet of former prime
minister Bayram Kosumi.
'This is reincarnation of the worst evil. We have new
Government with the same people', Thaqui said.
Suroi accused Ceku that he had not offered program and
asked on what grounds he was requesting support.
DSK vice-president Kolj Berisha has been elected new
Kosovo Parliament Speaker.
UNMIK's Chief Soren Jesen Petersen expressed assurance
that the Parliament led by Berisha would be the
leading institution in developing of democracy in
Kosovo and that it would continue strengthening its
legislative role.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=19074&NrIssue=417&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia)
March 24, 2006
Kosovo's Serbs demand Petersen's replacement
Pristina - Kosovo's Serbs urged UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan to replace his Envoy to Kosovo Soren Jessen
Petersen because of the calls of the latter for
ignoring the international warrants on leaders of
Kosovo's Albanians issued by Serbian authorities.
The Head of UN Mission to Kosovo Soren Jessen Petersen
called recently the Western Powers to ignore the
international warrants for the Kosovo's Prime Minister
Agim Ceku and the opposition leader Hashim Thaci,
issued by the Serbian judicial authorities for their
involvement in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
"The role of arbiter Petersen assumes by pronouncing
verdicts with no previous proceedings is pointed
directly against the international system and
compromises severely the international law and
credibility of UN", says the statement released late
Thursday by the Serbian National Council of Kosovo.
For years ago, Serbian authorities issued a warrant
against Ceku for committing genocide over the Serbian
population before and after NATO stationing in Kosovo,
while Thaci is wanted for committing acts of terrorism
in Kosovo in 1997.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85105&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 25, 2006
After Each Vienna Meeting Kosovo Gets Closer to Independence
Pristina - After each meeting between Pristina and
Belgrade delegations in Vienna Kosovo gets closer to
its independence, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi
Haziri stated cited by RTK.
At the same time Haziri admitted that despite the
talks being constructive after the two meetings
positions of Pristina and Belgrade remain totally
different.
---
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060324-121647-2333r
United Press International
March 25, 2006
Serbia: U.N. supports Kosovo Albanians
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - A Serbian government
official has accused the U.N. civilian mission in
Kosovo of supporting ethnic Albanian separatists in
the southern Serbian province.
Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, president of the Serbian
government coordinating committee for Kosovo, in a
letter to Soren Jessen-Petersen, the chief of the U.N.
mission in Kosovo, charged that Jessen-Petersen was
one of the "most influential promoters of the goals of
Albanian separatists."
Raskovic-Ivic's letter was in reaction to
Jessen-Petersen's call that Western countries ignore
Serbia's arrest warrant on Agim Ceku, Kosovo's prime
minister, for alleged war crimes in Kosovo in 1999.
In March 1999, the U.S. led-NATO forces bombarded
Serbia and Montenegro, at the time ruled by the
Serbian [president] Slobodan Milosevic, to prevent
what it described as a humanitarian catastrophe of
ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo because of abuses by
Serbian military and police forces.
After three months of air attacks, NATO troops entered
Kosovo in June 1999 and the United Nations set up its
administration in the province where there are
1,800,000 ethnic Albanians and 200,000 Serbs.
---
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/news/20060324p2g00m0in045000c.html
Associated Press
March 25, 2006
Interpol removes Kosovo premier from list of wanted persons
PARIS - Interpol has removed Kosovo's recently named
prime minister from its list of wanted persons because
of his new status, the international police agency
said Friday, though Serbia still accuses him of war
crimes.
Interpol included former rebel commander Agim Ceku at
the request of Serbia, but reviewed the case after
Ceku was elected prime minister by Kosovo's parliament
earlier this month.
Interpol informed its member countries and the U.N.
mission in Kosovo late Thursday that Ceku had been
removed from the list, an Interpol official said.
The U.N. mission in Kosovo, which has said it does not
recognize the Serbian warrant against Ceku, welcomed
the decision.
Ceku and Hashim Thaci, also wanted by Serbian police,
were leaders of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation
Army, the guerrilla group that fought Serb forces
during province's 1998-1999 war.
Both are now part of U.N.-sponsored talks to resolve
the future status of the disputed province.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85176&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 26, 2006
Self-Determination Movement Activists Raid UNMIK Vehicles in Kosovska
Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica - Activists of the
Self-Determination Movement have launched a raid
against vehicles of the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in Kosovska
Mitrovica, Kosovapress reported.
On Saturday prootesters let the air out of the tyres
of dozens of UN vehicles and sprayed on the vehicles
the word "End".
The Self-Determination Movement opposes any form of
negotiation with the Serbian government over the
future status of the southern province of Kosovo.
It says the citizens of the province have to determine
the status.
---
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=85204&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 26, 2006
Macedonian Police Found Secret Bunker Full of Weapons
Tetovo - During an operation Macedonian police found a
secret bunker full of illegal weapons, Makfax agency
informs.
According to information from Macedonian Interior
Ministry the bunker is situated between villages of
Brodec and Vesala in Tetovo region.
In the bunker the police found automatic rifles, a few
grenade guns, shells, anti-tank mines and munitions.
The police are investigating the case.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=85243&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
March 27, 2006
Economic Situation in Kosovo Catastrophic
Belgrade - "The Serbian energy sector is at all times
depending on Kosovo coals, since this is part of
Serbian territory and its wealth", Nenad Popovic,
leader of the economic team of the Serbian cabinet for
Kosovo and Southern Serbia, has said cited by the
Serbian Blic newspaper.
The platform for the talks on the final status of
Kosovo is in preparation and an economic team has been
formed aiming to prepare a strategy for a long-term
economic development of Southern Serbia and the
Serbian community in Kosovo.
It was a mistake, according to him, that everyone is
discussing the status talks and they forget that a
process of privatization is going on, that there was
not a single day without electricity cuts, and that
workers are losing their jobs.
The economic situation in Kosovo is disastrous,
Popovic stated.
The province has the highest unemployment level in
Europe – 90% among the members of the Serbian
community in the province, and up to 70% in the
Albanian community in 2005.
---
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28394571.htm
Reuters
March 28, 2006
Stabbing in flashpoint Kosovo town; Serbs protest
MITROVICA, Serbia and Montenegro - A Serb man was
stabbed in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica in Kosovo
on Tuesday and hundreds of Serbs gathered at the scene
to demonstrate, hospital officials and witnesses said.
The 19-year-old Serb was "seriously wounded" when he
was stabbed in the stomach, hospital director Milan
Ivanovic told Reuters.
Witnesses said he was attacked on the main bridge by
two men who had crossed from the mainly Albanian
south.
Mitrovica, in the north of Serbia's United Nations-run
province, has been divided at the river between Serbs
and Albanians since the 1998-99 war and has seen some
of the worst postwar violence in Kosovo.
Clashes at the bridge in March 2004 sparked two days
of Kosovo-wide Albanian riots that killed 19 people
and destroyed hundreds of Serb properties.
NATO soldiers and U.N. police officers have relaxed
security at the bridge over the past year.
Negotiations are under way to decide the province's
fate, with the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority
pushing for independence seven years after NATO bombs
drove out Serb forces....
---
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28440100.htm
Reuters
March 28, 2006
Police close bridge in Kosovo town after stabbing
By Branislav Krstic
MITROVICA, Serbia and Montenegro - U.N. police in
Kosovo closed the main bridge in the flashpoint town
of Mitrovica on Tuesday after a Serb man was stabbed
and hundreds of Serbs protested at the scene.
The 19-year-old Serbwas "seriously wounded" when he
was stabbed in the stomach on the main bridge in the
ethnically divided town, hospital director Milan
Ivanovic told Reuters.
Police could not confirm witnesses' accounts that the
attackers had crossed from the mainly Albanian south.
The U.N. police commander in the town said the bridge
was closed for the time being to all but U.N. traffic.
Located in the north of Serbia's United Nations-run
province, Mitrovica has been divided between Serbs and
Albanians since the 1998-99 war and has since seen
some of the worst post-war violence in Kosovo.
Regional police spokesman Sami Mehmeti confirmed a
stabbing incident on the bridge that spans the River
Ibar dividing the town into Serb and Albanian halves.
"The protest has been peaceful," he said.
Clashes at the bridge in March 2004 sparked two days
of Albanian riots across Kosovo that killed 19 people
and destroyed hundreds of Serb properties.
NATO soldiers and U.N. police officers have relaxed
security in the town over the past year, eventually
opening the bridge to civilian vehicles.
The province of 2 million people is entering a
sensitive phase, with negotiations under way in Vienna
to decide its fate.
The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is expected to
clinch independence, seven years after NATO bombs
drove out Serb forces....
Around half of Kosovo's Serb population fled a wave of
revenge [sic] attacks after the war, when the United
Nations took control. Around 100,000 remain, many in
isolated enclaves targeted by sporadic violence.
North Mitrovica is the Serbs' last urban centre and
they have resisted attempts to reintegrate with the
south [sic]....
---
Ceku must face justice
Halifax Herald - March 28, 2006
By SCOTT TAYLOR / On Target
LAST WEEK, I just happened to be in Belgrade attending a conference on
the future status of Kosovo when the funeral for former Serbian
president Slobodan Milosevic was held.
True to form, the western media's coverage of these events presented
accused war criminal Milosevic as evil incarnate and the Serbian
people, by extension, as something bordering on the subhuman.
Almost entirely lost in the frenzy to heap responsibility for a
decade's worth of death and destruction into Slobo's coffin was the
announcement that the Albanians in Kosovo have just selected a new
prime minister.
To have examined this development in the slightest would have served
to spread around some of the blame and to illustrate that the Serbs
certainly did not have a monopoly on war crimes during those bloody
civil wars. In fact, if one only casually glances at the resume of the
incoming prime minister, Agim Ceku, it becomes apparent that his
election flies in the face of international justice, foreshadows more
violence in Kosovo and ignores the sacrifices and valour of our
Canadian Forces.
In summary, Ceku, an Albanian Kosovar by birth, began his military
career as an officer in the former federal Yugoslavian army. When the
initial Yugoslav breakup occurred in 1991, Ceku was quick to switch
his loyalty to the Croatian cause. As a colonel in the Croatian army,
Ceku commanded the notorious 1993 operation in what is known as the
Medak Pocket.
It was here that the men of the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry came face to face with the savagery of which
Ceku was capable. Over 200 Serbian inhabitants of the Medak Pocket
were slaughtered in a grotesque manner (the bodies of female rape
victims were found after being burned alive). Our traumatized troops
who buried the grisly remains were encouraged to collect evidence and
were assured that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
Nevertheless in 1995, Ceku, by then trained by U.S. instructors as a
general of artillery, was still at large. In fact, he was the officer
responsible for shelling the Serbian refugee columns and for targeting
the UN-declared "safe" city of Knin during the Croatian offensive
known as Operation Storm. Some 500 innocent civilians perished in
those merciless barrages, and senior Canadian officers who witnessed
the slaughter demanded that Ceku be indicted. Once again, their pleas
fell of deaf ears.
Just a few months after the Storm atrocities, Canada's own Louise
Arbour began making a name for herself as the chief prosecutor for the
war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Despite the Canadian connection to
these alleged crimes, Arbour and her lawyers chose instead to pursue
more "politically prominent" individuals such as Milosevic, and other
senior Serbs, while nothing was done to bring Ceku to justice.
Fast-forward to January 1999, and the world's attention begins to
focus on a war-ravaged Kosovo. With the blessing of the U.S. State
Department and NATO, Ceku takes his retirement (at age 37) from the
Croatian army and is pronounced supreme commander of the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
Throughout the air campaign against Yugoslavia, Ceku was portrayed as
a loyal ally and he was frequently present at NATO briefings with top
generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson.
Under the terms of the June 1999 Kosovo peace deal, Ceku's Albanian
guerrillas were to be disarmed and reconstituted into a UN-sponsored
(non-military) disaster relief organization known as the Kosovo
Protection Corps. But despite the fact that they now collected UN
paycheques, Ceku's men never gave up their guns — nor their quest for
a Greater Albania
From the armed Albanian incursions into southern Serbia in 2000 — and
Macedonia in 2001 — right up until the violent pogrom unleashed
against Kosovo Serbs in March 2004, Ceku's brand of violence, hatred
and ethnic cleansing has remained unchanged.
Now he is being hailed as a political leader, and the world is once
again turning a blind eye to his crimes.
Hopefully, Canada at least will respect the eyewitness testimony of
our own peacekeepers and finally insist that Ceku face the same
justice that was demanded of Slobodan Milosevic.
Presenting the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry with a belated Governor General's unit
citation for the Medak Pocket battle will remain a hollow gesture
until Ceku is held responsible for his atrocities.
(staylor@...)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/492868.html
Copyright 2006 Halifax Herald
Posted for Fair Use only.
---
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.282444245&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy)
March 31, 2006
KOSOVO: OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSES GOVERNMENT OF CRIME AND CORRUPTION
Pristina - An ethnic Albanian opposition leader in
Kosovo, Hasim Taci, on Friday accused the local
government of crime and corruption at a moment when
the province's future and the final status were being
decided.
Taci, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of
Kosovo and former commander of the Kosovo Liberation
Army (UCK) that started a rebellion against Belgrade
rule in 1998, told local media that the government was
a "shame for the citizens of Kosovo".
Kosovo, whose majority ethnic Albanians demand
independence, has been under United Nations control
since NATO bombing pushed Serbian forces out of the
province in 1999, and talks are currently underway on
its final status and municipal reorganization which
would grant more autonomy to non-Albanian minorities.
Taci, who heads the ethnic Albanian delegation at the
talks held in Vienna, said that the government hasn't
done enough to stimulate some 200,000 Serbs who have
fled the province since 1999 to return home.
The international community has demanded that Kosovo
authorities fulfill a set of internationally accepted
democratic and human rights standards before the final
status is decided, but Taci said that "this government
can fulfill nothing except crime".
He didn't elaborate his accusations, but it is
generally perceived that Kosovo has become a haven for
organized crime, drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Over the past year Kosovo has changed three prime
ministers, and another UCK leader, general Agim Ceku,
took over the government this month. "This government
has comprised everything that is the worst," said
Taci. But he added that there were "political forces
and civic society which can fulfill the expectations".
Belgrade opposes Kosovo independence and considers
Taci and Ceku war criminals, but Interpol has recently
withdrawn Belgrade's warrant for Ceku's arrest, as it
did earlier for Taci.
Taci is also known by his war-time nickname "the
Snake", and Belgrade sees his rhetoric as nothing but
a part of internal power struggle among ethnic
Albanian leaders, following the recent death of
president Ibrahim Rugova whose authority was
unchallenged.
---
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
All Rights Reserved
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 29, 2006 Wednesday
LENGTH: 137 words
HEADLINE: Serb leader warns Kosovo stabbing could lead to "escalation
of ethnic violence"
BODY: Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Pale, 29 March: the deputy head of the Serb National Council of
Kosovo-Metohija, Rada Trajkovic, has warned that last night's attack in
the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, in which a Serb youth was
stabbed by three Albanians, could lead to more attacks on Kosovo Serbs
and to an escalation of ethnic violence, similar to what happened in
March 2004.
Trajkovic told the Pale-based OSM TV that the arrival of 600 German
soldiers was expected in Kosovo-Metohija over the next few days and
warned that the deployment of reinforcements could be a result of
reports received by Kfor [NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force] indicating
a possible escalation of Albanian violence in Kosovo-Metohija.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0740
gmt 29 Mar 06
LOAD-DATE: March 29, 2006
---
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
March 28, 2006 Tuesday
LENGTH: 194 words
HEADLINE: Serb youth stabbed in divided Kosovo town, police reportedly
failed to act
BODY: Text of report by Serbian privately-owned TV Pink on 28 March
[Presenter] The day has not been quiet in Serbia, after all. Namely,
Tanjug [news agency] news has reported that Milisav Ilincic, aged 19,
was this evening injured in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica
after he was repeatedly stabbed with a knife; he was immediately taken
to a health centre in the town.
The deputy director of the health centre, Dr Milan Ivanovic, said that
Ilincic had been injured to the head and stomach, adding that he was
currently being treated at the centre. The attack took place at 1815
[1615 gmt] on the very edge of the main Ibar River bridge separating
[Serb-populated] northern from the [Albanian-populated] southern part of
Mitrovica, and it took place right under the nose of the Kosovo police,
who failed to intervene.
Around 200 Serbs immediately gathered in the vicinity of the main Ibar
bridge, blocking all access roads leading to the main bridge as a sign
of protest. According to eye-witnesses, Ilincic was attacked by three
Albanian young men who escaped to the southern part of the town after
the incident.
Source: TV Pink, Belgrade, in Serbian 1748 gmt 28 Mar 06
LOAD-DATE: March 28, 2006
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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.283264486&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy)
April 3, 2006
BALKANS: SERBS FEARS OF "GREATER ALBANIAN" CONSPIRACY
Belgrade - Ethnic Albanian leaders, the
Muslim-majority province of Kosovo and leaders in
Serbia's sister republic of Montenegro are conspiring
to create a "Greater Albania" and dissolve the state
union of Serbia and Montenegro - the last remnant of
the former Yugoslavia - Serb politicians charged on
Monday.
The allegations came on the same day that Serb and
ethnic Albanian negotiators met in Vienna for the
third round UN-mediated talks this year on Kosovo's
future status.
Ethnic Albanians and Montenegrins are both working for
the same goal, which is the creation of "Greater
Albania," the Serbian government's coordinator for
Kosovo, Sanda Raskovic Ivic, told journalists in
Belgrade on Monday.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who form a 1.7 million
majority against some 100,000 Serbs remaining in the
province, demand nothing short of independence.
Montenegrins are scheduled to hold a referendum on
secession from Serbia on 22 May.
"Montenegro political leaders are guided by
anti-Serbian blindness," said Raskovic Ivic, adding
that for the sake of retaining power, they were ready
to sacrifice Montenegro and push it to become a part
of "Greater Albania".
The speculation in Serbian political circles over an
ethnic Albanian-Montenegrin conspiracy was fuelled by
remarks made on Sunday by Kosovo's veteran political
leader, Adem Demaqi, who said the ethnic Albanian
minority's vote might be crucial in Montenegro's
independence referendum.
Ethnic Albanians make over five percent of
Montenegro's 620,000 population, and their votes might
tip the balance in what is expected to be a tight
race.
Kosovo and Montenegro might unite once they became
independent, and Montenegro's prime minister, Milo
Djukanovic, who is spearheading the independence
drive, would be acceptable to ethnic Albanians as
prime minister.
"It would be the right thing for Albanians to help
Montenegro achieve independence, because in doing so
they could realise their own interests," Demaqi said.
Commenting on Demaqi's statement, a Kosovo Serb
leader, Milan Ivanovic, said that it was proof that
"Podgorica [the Montenegrin capita] and Pristina are
making synchronised moves."
Both capitals have similar interests, he said, warning
that ethnic Albanians in Montenegro would be likely to
join a "Greater Albanian state" if the republic gained
independence.
=== FLASHBACK ===
http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/sept01/hed4073a.shtml
The Halifax Herald Limited, September 10, 2001
Contributed
Indicted war criminal Agim Ceku still collects a UN paycheque
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
WITH SOME 200 troops now on the ground in Macedonia, as part of NATO´s
latest intervention force, it´s about time somebody started seriously
questioning Canada´s long-range Balkan policy.
Throughout the decade of bloody civil wars in the 90s, which
accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Canadian soldiers have
been on continuous deployment to the region. Originally serving as UN
peacekeepers (who evolved into NATO peacemakers by the time of the
Kosovo crisis), Canada´s military had become a belligerent in this
complex conflict. Despite our oft changing role, one constant that has
remained is the reality experienced by our frontline soldiers, which
is rarely reflected by the Western (read: U.S. State Department
inspired) media portrayals of the ongoing Yugoslavian tragedy.
The most vivid examples of this dichotomy became evident during the
1999, 78-day NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia.. As cockney
spokesman Jamie Shea took to the airwaves to demonize the Serbian
people and justify NATO´s attacks, respected veteran officers such as
General Lewis Mackenzie and Colonel Don Ethell spoke out to publicly
denounce Canada´s participation in the bombing. Having witnessed
first-hand the multi-factional hatred which pervades the Balkan
theatre, Canadian soldiers are unwilling to assign blame and/or take
sides in this brutal civil war. However, driven by U.S. interests and
fuelled by a jingoistic media corps, NATO leaders have not been so
hesitant to play favourites.
This current crisis in Macedonia originated last March with Albanian
guerrillas attacking from inside NATO-occupied Kosovo. The guns
carried by the Albanians were the same weapons that NATO was to have
removed from the Kososvo Liberation Army (known as the UCK) back in
1999. However, over the past two years with a powerful 40,000 strong
occupation force, NATO has been unwilling and/or unable to strip these
Albanian (UCK) guerrillas of their arsenal. Only now that a wave of
terror has been successfully exported into heretofore peaceful
Macedonia, and the UCK have seized control of some 30 per cent of
Macedonia territory, has NATO decided to intervene.
The Canadian Combat Group which has been hastily dispatched from
service in Bosnia to participate in the Macedonia mission is equipped
with new Coyote reconnaissance vehicles. These state of the art
armoured personnel carriers have been roundly praised by NATO
spokesmen for "providing a vital asset in monitoring the flow of
illegal arms across Macedonian/Kosovo border."
Disgruntled Macedonian citizens are correct in asking "if such a
surveillance capability existed within NATO´s arsenal-why wasn´t it
employed to prevent Albanians from entering Macedonia in the first place?"
A similar stumper could be posed to NATO spokesmen regarding their
reluctance to arrest the UCK´s military figurehead General Agim Ceku,
an indicted war criminal.. Many of our peacekeepers witnessed the
barbarism committed by Ceku´s troops in Croatia in 1993 and 1995 and
it is largely on the strength of Canadian soldiers testimony that The
Hague War Crimes Tribunal has been forced to issue this rogue
commander a sealed indictment.
Agim Ceku, an Albanian Kosovar by birth, began his military career as
an officer in the former federal Yugoslavian Army (JNA). When the
initial Yugoslav break-up occurred in 1991, Ceku was quick to switch
his loyalty to the Croatian cause of independence. As a colonel in the
Croatian army, Ceku commanded the notorious 1993 operation now known
as the Medak Pocket.
It was here that the men of the Second Battalion Princess Patricia´s
Canadian Light Infantry came face to face with the vulgar savagery of
which Ceku was capable. Over 200 Serbian inhabitants of the Medak
Pocket were slaughtered in a grotesque manner (female rape victims
were found after being burned alive). Our traumatized troops that
buried the grisly remains were encouraged to collect evidence.
Nevertheless in 1995, Ceku, by then a general of artillery, was still
at large. In fact, he was the officer responsible for shelling the
Serbian refugee columns and for targeting the UN "safe" city of Knin
during the Croatian offensive known as Operation Storm.
Just a few months after the Storm atrocities, Canada´s own Louise
Arbour began making a name for herself as the chief prosecutor for The
Hague tribunal. Despite the Canadian connection to these alleged
crimes, Arbour and her lawyers chose instead to pursue more
"politically prominent" individuals and seemingly little was done to
bring Ceku to justice.
Fast forward to January 1999 and the world´s attention begins to focus
on a war ravaged Kosovo. With the blessing of the U.S. State
Department, Agim Ceku took his retirement (at age 37) from the
Croatian army and was pronounced Supreme Commander of the Kosovo
Liberation Army (UCK).
Throughout the air campaign against Yugoslavia, Ceku was portrayed as
a loyal ally and he was frequently present at the NATO briefings with
top generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson.
Under terms of the Kosovo peace deal, Ceku´s Albanian guerrillas were
to be disarmed and re-constituted into a UN sponsored, (non-military)
disaster relief organization known as the Kosovo Protection Corps
(KPC). ButCeku´s UCK never gave up their guns - nor their quest for a
Greater Albania.
Although he is nominally maintaining an ´arms-length´ posture towards
his former comrades, Agim Ceku is still worshipped as a saviour by
both the UCK troops and Albanian-minority in Macedonia.
As this indicted war criminal continues to enjoy his freedom, bask in
public attention, and collect a UN paycheque, our Canadian soldiers
are risking their lives to disarm his UCK in Macedonia.
All in the name of peace and justice.