EX-KLA FIGHTERS THREATEN WAR UNLESS KOSOVO GETS INDEPENDENCE
BBC Monitoring International Reports - July 17, 2007 Tuesday

Text of report by Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 13 July

[Report by Shkelzen Tahirsylaj: "Status Delay May Provoke War"]

Decan [Decani], 12 Jul - War veterans from Dukagjin [Western Kosovo] say they are against the resumption of talks with Serbia on Kosova's [Kosovo] political status, which is being proposed by decision-making centres. The former UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] members from that part of Kosova said on Thursday [ 12 July] that they consider the proposal for a new round of talks between Prishtina and Belgrade as a dangerous option that may provoke unpredictable actions.

Abdyl Mushkolaj [chairman of the Organization of former UCK wars Veterans (OVL)] - the man who several days ago brought together in Decan representatives of all organizations of Albanian veterans from the recent wars in the territories of Yugoslavia to discuss the positions that those organizations need to take in relation to the political developments in Kosova - has explained the latest stance of the Dukagjin OVL. He warned all political players that for the war veterans there are no other options except Kosova's independence.

"If the opposite happens, then there will be a war," said Mushkolaj, who only two days ago received support from Albanian veterans of Macedonia. It was through their representative Fazli Veliu the the war veterans from Macedonia said they were ready to help Kosova in the event of a new war.

"The dragging out of talks and delay in defining the status may cause sparks that could ignite new wars. We, the veterans of Dukagjini and beyond, are against new bloodshed, but at the same we warn that the playing with the fate of the Albanians, who have suffered most in the world in their search for freedom, has also been going on for too long."

Mushkolaj expressed his conviction that the former UCK members were prepared for yet another sacrifice to defend the statehood ideal. In order to articulate better the stance of the organization that he leads, the Dukagjin OVL chairman issued a press release on Thursday, advising among other things that the veterans would not accept any other solution for Kosova short of independence.

"The latest options for a 120-day delay are dangerous, because Kosova's division is the main goal of these talks. But any option short of independence also belongs to the past. Therefore, we urge everyone to be mature and committed to the Kosova issue, otherwise everyone will bear the consequences," the press release reads.

The press release also advises that the veterans "made concessions when there was talk about the dissolution of the TMK [Kosovo Protection Corps], when veterans and families of the UCK war martyrs were abused, when representatives of the organization born out of the UCK were imprisoned and discriminated against, but they will not make concessions now, when the idea of the state of Kosova is being called into question."

"We UCK veterans will act like UCK members by adjusting to the new situation and developments in the region. We do not need teaching anything. The masks are falling away from the servile people in the phony government who at some stages in the past did not represent the country's interests. Kosova has people who can protect it," reads a statement bearing the seal of the Dukagjin OVL and the signature of its chairman Abdyl Mushkolaj.

Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 13 Jul 07

Copyright 2007 Financial Times Information
Copyright 2007 BBC Monitoring Service , Source: The Financial Times Limited

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