MACEDONIA: FORMER REBEL COMMANDER CAKALLA ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF "DEATH UNIT"
Lobi - November 17, 2003

Two former commanders of the rebel ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) from the Lipkovo area near Kumanovo have issued an open letter complaining about the behaviour of the security forces in their area. They blamed Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and Ali Ahmeti, leader of the Albanian party in the ruling coalition and former political leader of the UCK. The rebel commanders announced the formation of a "Death Unit" which "will fight to our deaths to fulfil the legacy of the martyrs of the nation". The following is the text of a "Letter to the Nation" by Avdyl Jakupi, also known as Commander Cakalla, and Demush Sejdiu, also known as Commander Tanusha, published by the Macedonian Albanian-language weekly Lobi on 17 November - subheadings as published:

Following the recent incidents in Macedonia, we felt it necessary to address the nation and the international community with a letter. We call on the Helsinki Committee to analyse and clarify our accusations and arguments. Since the military and police invasion against free areas where the populace was already traumatized, it has become clear that the Oher (Ohrid) accord does not even exist, and we demand an explanation from the international community about that. (French official) Francois Leotard and (US official) James Pardew were the mediators and guarantors of that agreement and they have failed to react after this agreement failed. We demand an urgent answer from the international community. Government and machinations

After the 2001 war, machinations and murders of former UCK (National Liberation Army) fighters began in the country. The first incident took place with the killing of Haxhi Baba, who was executed in the centre of Shkup (Skopje) just because he had been a member of the UCK. It continued with the bombing of the court in Struge (Struga). It was bombed by the government, with the help of its paid Albanian agents, and two innocent young men were blamed for it. Although we informed international monitors Meart and Gizberd (names as published), the EU failed to act. To this day, two innocent young men suffer in jail, although it is well known who committed the crimes. The incident involving Avni Ajeti was also staged by the agents of state security. I am one of the accused in connection with that incident, and I know that those who have been arrested as suspects are not the real perpetrators of the crime. Avni Ajeti was massacred alive while in police custody, and his nails were torn off. I informed the BDI (Democratic Union for Integration) and the international community, but they failed to act. The horror continued with the public execution in front of cameras of Nexhmedin Demiri, a former member of the UCK. Again, the BDI and the international community failed to act. A pregnant Albanian woman was raped in the village of Sopot, and again, it was ignored by the Titoist (referring to the communist leader of former Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito) government of (BDI leader Ali) Ahmeti and (Prime Minister Branko) Crvenkovski, as well as by the international factor. Another public killing took place in the neighbourhood of Caircane just because Ridvan Neziri, a former UCK member, was with the victims. We blame the Serb and Slav Macedonian secret services and Ali Ahmeti for those murders. When this happened, we finally concluded that the Macedonians only understand the language of the gun.

Death Unit

This unit was formed because of the killings of former UCK members and the machinations of the parties in powers - the BDI and the SDSM (Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia). Outraged by the public killing of our comrades and by the failure of the Oher accord, we realize that everything is a game by Ali Ahmeti and Branko Crvenkovski. Given that the AKSh (Albanian National Army) is playing dirty games against former UCK members and given that the AKSh is Ali Ahmeti and Branko Crvenkovski's invention to blame former UCK members, we decided to form an UCK unit called the Death Unit. We will fight to our deaths to fulfil the legacy of the martyrs of the nation.

About UCK spokesman

We accuse Ali Ahmeti of desecrating the blood of the martyrs and of national treason. We also call on the international courts to try Branko Crvenkovski and his Titoist government for the killings of innocent former members of the UCK and for staging incidents, about which we have evidence. We have informed international monitors Meart and Gizberd about all of these staged incidents. We ask the international courts to question these two monitors because they have turned a blind eye to these staged incidents. Also, we call on the BDI chairman to explain publicly why these treasonous acts have been happening, why the army and police invaded the free zone of Karadak (Skopska Crna Gora).

Breze incident

I was driving along the old Shkup-Kumanove (Kumanovo) road when three cars started to chase and fire at us. We stopped one of the cars and arrested the people inside. They were two individuals in civilian clothes. They were armed and had 2 kg of narcotics with them. They were both Macedonians and were carrying secret police identity cards. The first to act was the deputy director of the Intelligence and Counterintelligence Directorate, Fatmir Dehari. He demanded the unconditional release of the two police officers. We demanded that our arrested friends, who are innocent, also be released. Dehari personally promised to do this. But when we released the police officers, the Slav Macedonian police and army surrounded the village of Haracine (Aracinovo) with 50 tanks and 30 armoured vehicles. We informed Dehari about this, but he replied that they would withdraw very soon. The large operation by police and army forces lasted for another two weeks.

The situation also deteriorated thanks to certain Albanian politicians in the country and abroad, such as Deputy Hysni Shaqiri, who accused us of being criminals and drug addicts. He also said that Cakalla was sick. We publicly ask Shaqiri whether Cakalla was also sick in 2001 when, together with Commander Tigri (Tiger), he gave him his first Albanian uniform. We also ask Shaqiri why the police car that we seized had 2 kg of narcotics in it, the possession of which is illegal in every country of the world.

The day on which the Macedonian government attacked Breze (Brest) was a Sunday and they thought the international monitors would not be at work. Fortunately, Austrian monitors were present and witnessed the developments in Breze. The army and police attacked with everything they had. They had brought with them two dead female bodies, which they planned to plant in Breze and to accuse Albanians of having killed. We think that those two dead bodies belonged to two women from Moldova. To this day, the international monitors and the authorities have said nothing about the narcotics that we seized and about these two dead bodies. We call on the international community to investigate all circumstances surrounding these two dead bodies, which are being kept in Butel morgue. When the army and the police failed to enter Breze, they took the bodies with them. The next day, Ali Ahmeti addressed the people and said that he had not been informed about the operation in Breze.

We call on Albanian mothers to urge their sons to take off their Slav uniforms, because we will not be held responsible for whomever we may kill. We also call on the international factor to consider our arguments urgently. We demand that Ali Ahmeti explain why the free zone of Karadak was attacked by the Macedonian military and police forces. We have evidence that Branko Crvenkovski stands behind all these machinations. We demand that the EU immediately arrest (Interior Minister) Hari Kostov and (Defence Minister) Vlado Buckovski. We have evidence that they were involved in the staging of all of the incidents.

(Signed) Avdyl Jakup, Cakalla

Demush Sejdiu, Tanusha

Source: Lobi, Skopje, in Albanian 17 Nov 03 pp 11-12

Copyright 2003 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire 
Copyright 2003 BBC Monitoring/BBC  
BBC Monitoring International Reports

Posted for Fair Use only.