HARADINAJ SITUATION
THREATENS TO UNLEASH MASSIVE VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - January 10, 2005
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Introduction
The Hague Tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, has reportedly prepared an indictment against Kosovo prime minister, and former KLA commander, Ramush Haradinaj. Belgrade’s B92 radio and the Montenegro-based newspaper “Dan” have reported that the indictment, which has yet to be confirmed by the tribunal, charges Haradinaj with crimes against Serbs and non-Albanians. [1]
The Kosovo government dismisses as “absurd speculation” reports that an indictment against Haradinaj has been written. [2]
For his part, Haradinaj denies wrong-doing and dismisses all charges as Serb fabrications. [3]
Haradinaj is portrayed by Kosovo’s Albanian-media as a hero. When he was wounded while carrying out an armed attack on an ethnic Albanian family, Kosovo’s Albanian media reported that he was wounded in an assassination attempt.
When Haradinaj was lightly injured in an altercation with Russian KFOR soldiers, he was again portrayed as an innocent victim. The Albanian media reported that he was an assault victim and accused the Russians of being racists. They neglected to report that Haradinaj got hit because he had tried to grab the Russian soldier’s weapon away from him at a KFOR checkpoint.
The result of the Albanian media’s false reporting was anarchy in the streets, and rocket and sniper attacks against Russian KFOR troops.
If Haradinaj is indicted, regardless of the circumstances, violence against Kosovo’s non-Albanians, especially against the Serbs is practically guaranteed. As we mentioned earlier, Haradinaj says the accusations against him are “Serb fabrications.” Based on Haradinaj’s popularity among Kosovo’s Albanians, it is certain that they will see him as the victim of a Serbian conspiracy if he is indicted. The Albanian reaction to the perceived “conspiracy” will almost certainly be violence against non-Albanians, especially against Serbs.
No Excuses for KFOR and UNMIK if Violence Occurs
If Haradinaj is indicted and violence against non-Albanians is the result, KFOR and UNMIK will bear ultimate responsibility the violence. KFOR can’t say that it didn’t anticipate violence. KFOR and UNMIK are being warned of violence by all sides.
Serbian analysts warn of violence. Serbia-Montenegro Army General, Ninoslav Krstic told Belgrade's "Blic" newspaper, "Kosovo is the territory of crime and training camps for terrorists. The only new detail is the potential indictment against Haradinaj. That indictment could lead to protests that would turn into violence against Serbs similar to March 17. International forces could be attacked, too" [4]
Albanians are also predicting violence. According to Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur, UCK veterans warned the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) of "inevitable emotional response of Albanians, which could easily turn to more violence", as was seen in March 2004. [5]
The International Crisis Group is also predicting violence. According to January’s “Crisis Watch” report, an indictment would likely spark dangerous political crisis, and insurgency from Haradinaj’s native west Kosovo. [6]
KFOR and UNMIK have been given every warning. They’re being warned by the Serbs, by the Albanians, and by international organizations. There is no excuse for anybody to be victimized if Haradinaj is indicted. KFOR and UNMIK can not say they were caught off guard.
Ramush Haradinaj is hugely popular with Kosovo’s Albanian population. He enjoys biased coverage from the Kosovo-Albanian media. The Albanian media portrays him as a hero and, as we shall demonstrate, misleads their readers in order to protect his reputation.
Ramush Takes a Gun and Takes a Beating
At approximately 1 PM on May 23, 2000 Ramush Haradinaj stopped at a KFOR check point manned by Russian troops, a fight ensued and Haradinaj was lightly injured.
According to the Albanian media the incident went down as follows:
Filled with hatred against the Albanians, particularly against former high-ranking officers and soldiers of the UCK, the Russian troops attacked the AAK chairman and beat him for no reason at all. It is suspected that, amidst the Russian troops, there were Serbs wearing a Russian uniform who knew Mr. Ramush Haradinaj. [7]
KFOR described the incident differently. According to KFOR, Haradinaj was found to be in possession of weapons without a valid permit, and a fight broke out when the Russian KFOR troops seized his weapons.
A KFOR spokesman told AFP that "Mr. Haradinaj himself attempted to seize either the weapon of the Russian soldier or his own weapons that had been taken, and in an altercation, Mr. Haradinaj got hit." The spokesman added, "We can confirm that the Russian soldier acted with absolute minimum force." [8]
The Albanian media never reported that Haradinaj got hit because he tried to grab a weapon away from the soldier. They reported that he was “beaten” because the Russians were “filled with hatred against Albanians.”
The Albanian media’s irresponsible reporting of the incident, coupled with Haradinaj’s influence in the ethnic Albanian community, led to a series of terrorist attacks against Russian KFOR troops.
Five attacks occurred on the day of the incident. Shots were fired at Russians guarding two dams in Kosovo, and two anti-tank rockets hit a Russian military base at Kijevo, wounding two men. [9]
In addition to terrorist attacks, angry demonstrations broke out in the Albanian community. Thousands of ethnic Albanian demonstrators gathered in Prizren to demand the withdrawal of Russian KFOR troops. [10] In Decani angry Albanian protestors blockaded the town for more than an hour. [11] In Malisevo angry Albanian mobs shouting “UCK! UCK!” clashed with KFOR solders and blockaded the town. [12]
KFOR witnessed the angry demonstrations and the terrorist attacks that came about after this incident. Surely they are aware that a war crimes indictment against Haradinaj would spark an even bigger reaction from the Albanians.
Haradinaj wields considerable power, especially in western Kosovo. The UN administrator in Pec told London’s Observer newspaper, “[Ramush Haradinaj] can very easily bring the area to a halt.” [13]
Unable to stay out of trouble after his row with the Russians, Ramush and his brother Daut Haradinaj almost got themselves killed while carrying an armed attack out against a rival ethnic Albanian family.
The Kosovo Albanian media portrayed Haradinaj as the victim, and branded the incident a “horrendous assassination attempt against two of the most prominent figures of the war in Kosova.” [14]
According to this, and similar Albanian media reports, The Haradinaj brothers were driving home when they were wounded in an attack with a hand-held mortar. [15]
The Albanian-language KosovaPress agency even went so far as to concoct a motive. According to their report an “armed group” (which they did not name) was behind the so-called “assassination attempt.” They reported that:
The
members of this group carried out the assassination attempt against the
Haradinaj brothers in order to remove them from the political scene and from the
leading structures of the TMK (Kosovo Protection Corps)” [16]
The Kosovo-Albanian press, in its zeal to portray Haradinaj as the victim of an assassination attempt, generally did not report a number of crucial facts which indicate that Haradinaj was not wounded in an assassination attempt. Rather, Haradinaj was wounded while carrying out an armed attack against a rival ethnic Albanian family’s house.
Sadik Musaj told AFP that Haradinaj came to his house in Streoc at 1:00 am on Friday, July 7, 2000. He said that Haradinaj was armed with an assault rifle, and that a gang of Haradinaj’s men, armed with guns and grenades, surrounded his house. [17]
According to the Musaj family, Haradinaj showed up at their house and shouted, "Give yourselves up, otherwise you and your entire family will die." [18]
Sadik Musaj
said that Haradinaj had come to kidnap him and that a grenade had gone off in a
struggle, wounding Haradinaj.
[19]
UN police said that an exchange of fire had taken place between a group of men led by Haradinaj and members of the Musaj family. [20]
AFP’s reporter saw bullet holes in the outside walls of the Musaj family home, in its windows, and in cars parked outside the house, along with a crater where the grenade had exploded. [21]
AFP reported that the
investigation into the affair was stifled under US pressure and that Ramush was
treated in a US Army hospital in Germany before returning to Kosovo. [22]
Obviously Haradinaj was not the victim of an attempted assassination. He was wounded while carrying out an armed attack.
Further indication that Haradinaj is responsible for the incident is the fact that his AAK party gave conflicting accounts of the incident to Agence France Presse. Consider the following two excerpts from AFP’s coverage of the incident.
Here is what AFP reported on July 7th:
An AAK source told AFP that Haradinaj had been injured by an explosive projectile fired at his car as he returned to his home in Pec, in the west of Kosovo just after midnight. [23]
Now here is what AFP reported on July 12th:
The AAK have said that Haradinaj and his men had gone to the house to talk to the Musaj family, who they said were linked with the FARK, a guerrilla group which was a rival to the KLA, when a family member through a grenade. [24]
See the difference? On July 7th the AAK told AFP that Haradinaj was
just driving down the road when somebody fired a grenade at his car. On July 12th,
when UN police confirmed that an exchange of fire had taken place, the AAK
changed their story and admitted that Haradinaj had gone to the rival Musaj
family’s house, but “just to talk” … in the wee hours of the morning. Musaj is a
criminal and a terrorist himself and does not deserve sympathy, but Haradinaj
was not his victim.
Ramush Haradinaj: Psycho Killer
In spite of the violent consequences that will undoubtedly flow from any action against Haradinaj, it is important to bring him to some sort of justice. To allow a psychopath who will murder his own people to remain free, and even be the prime minister, is sheer insanity.
Consider the following excerpt from London’s Observer newspaper:
A former British soldier,
who served with the Kosovo Verification Mission, described [Haradinaj] as 'a
psychopath', and accused him of terrorising his own troops and the local
population into loyalty. 'He would beat his own men to maintain a kind of
military discipline,' he said.
'Someone would pass him some information and he would disappear for two hours.
The end result would be several bodies in a ditch.'
The ex-soldier man said he saw Ramush 'deal with' an Albanian family who had let
Serb police into their house. The incident matches a human rights report by the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe last year which told how
seven masked men entered a house in the village of Gornja Lucka. Two men were
beaten. A third was taken away and never seen again.
During this time Haradinaj maintained daily contact with American military personnel, the ex-soldier said - a link taken over by Nato at the beginning of the bombing.
Another alleged victim of Ramush's men was Suad Qorraj, who had operated a satellite telephone for a rival KLA commander during the war. His family say he went missing on 23 June 1999, two weeks after the end of the war. On 1 August Suad's charred remains were found in a forest. [25]
As violent as Haradinaj is towards his own people, he is even more vicious in his treatment of Kosovo’s Serbs.
According to Vladan Batic, Serbia's former Justice Minister, "Haradinaj personally executed 67 killings, ordered at least 267 killings, and ordered or organized the kidnappings of at least 400 people." [26]
On June 12, 1999 Haradinaj raped an underage girl that the KLA was holding prisoner at the Pastrik Hotel in Djakovica. [27]
The fact that Kosovo elected a rapist, a pedophile, and a murderer to the office of prime minister is the best argument against its independence. The fact that the UNMIK allowed them to do it raises serious questions about the intentions of the international community, especially the Americans, in Kosovo.
Black-Ops
Many suspect that the United States supports Ramush Haradinaj. During the time of the Kosovo Verification Mission Haradinaj was said to have maintained daily contact with American military personnel. [28]
When Haradinaj attacked the Musaj family (and the Albanian media said it was an assassination attempt against Haradinaj). The United States was accused by UN police of withholding evidence, and blocking an investigation into the incident.
It is hard to dismiss these accusations as simple anti-Americanism in the UN establishment since the man in charge of the UN investigation was Fred Pascoe, an American police officer. [29]
According to the London Observer:
Ramush Haradinaj, a former
commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was the key US military and
intelligence asset in Kosovo during the civil war and the Nato bombing campaign
that followed.
In the latest twist in the saga of an increasingly flawed electoral process,
United Nations police in the province complain that US personnel withheld
evidence about a gunfight involving Haradinaj, who is now leads a key political
group.
UN investigators say US officials from their country's main base, Camp Bondsteel,
removed forensic evidence from the scene of the gun battle, including bullets
retrieved from walls. The scene, in the western village of Strellc, is well out
of the US Army's area of responsibility, in the south-east Kosovo.
Following the shooting Haradinaj, known in the province simply as Ramush, was
flown by helicopter to Camp Bondsteel and on to be treated for sharpnel wounds
at a US Army hospital in Germany. UN investigators were denied access to him
then. [30]
Agance France Presse gave a similar account saying:
The investigation into the affair was stifled under US pressure, according to a senior UN policeman, and Ramush was treated in a US Army hospital in Germany before returning to Kosovo. [31]
Haradinaj’s relationship with the Americans continued even after the incidents with the Russians and the Musaj family. His party officials were invited to discuss the future of Kosovo at a meeting organized by the US State Department, and he went to Washington on a fund-raising trip and as the guest of a US Congressman, Benjamin Gilman. [32]
It is suspicious that the Americans would want to block that investigation. As mentioned earlier, Ramush’s brother Daut was his accomplice. Daut Haradinaj has been blacklisted by the US Government because he is a threat to Balkan stability. [33]
Conclusion
If Haradinaj is indicted, violence against Kosovo’s non-Albanians should be expected. Albanians will almost certainly view Haradinaj as the victim of a Serbian conspiracy and take their revenge on the remaining Kosovo Serbs. However, a violent criminal like Haradinaj must be brought to justice no matter how angry it makes the Albanians.
KFOR should facilitate the immediate return of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro to Kosovo as guaranteed by Annex 2.6 of UNSC Resolution 1244.
The ethnic cleansing of Kosovo’s non-Albanian population that has occurred on KFOR’s watch demonstrates that KFOR is unable or unwilling to protect Kosovo’s non-Albanian population. The Serbia-Montenegro Army should be retuned to the province in order to safeguard the non-Albanian population.
If KFOR refuses to allow the Serbia-Montenegro Army to protect its citizens on its own territory in Kosovo-Metohija, and the further ethnic cleansing of the non-Albanian population is the result, then KFOR will have intentionally facilitated ethnic cleansing.
KFOR and UNMIK can not pretend to be caught by surprise if violence breaks out against non-Albanians as the result of a Haradinaj indictment. Serbs, Albanians, and the international organizations don’t agree on much regarding Kosovo, but they all agree that violence is very likely if Haradinaj is indicted.
Footnotes
[1] B92, Dan; January 5, 2005; Haradinaj "handed indictment"
[2] BBC Worldwide Monitoring; January 6, 2005; Kosovo officials deny Hague issued indictment against premier; Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 6 Jan 05 p2
[3]
The Economist (U.S. Edition); January 1, 2005;
Young and wanted; Kosovo's prime minister
[4] Blic; January 5, 2004; Covic and Krstic warns: Haradinaj into the Hague Tribunal, then attacks on Serbs
[5] Deutsche Presse-Agentur; January 3, 2005, Monday; Kosovo again on world's list of potential hot spots
[6] International Crisis Group; 1 January 2005; Crisis Watch #17
[7] BBC Summary of World Broadcasts; May 25, 2000, Thursday; Russian troops accused of beating Kosovo Albanian party leader; Source: Kosovapress news agency web site in Albanian 23 May 00
[8] Agence France Presse – English; May 24, 2000, Wednesday; Two Russians wounded after row with Albanian ex-guerrilla
[9] Ibid.
[10] BBC Summary of World Broadcasts; May 27, 2000, Saturday; "Thousands" protest against beating of ethnic Albanian leader; Source: Kosovapress news agency web site in Albanian 25 May 00
[11] BBC Summary of World Broadcasts; May 26, 2000, Friday; Kosovo Albanians in Decani protest at arrest of party leader Haradinaj; Source: 'Rilindja', Pristina, in Albanian 24 May 00
[12] BBC Summary of World Broadcasts; May 26, 2000, Friday; Russian Kfor troops, Kosovo Albanians clash over attack on Ramush Haradinaj; Source: 'Zeri', Pristina, in Albanian 24 May 00
[13] The Observer; September 10, 2000; Pg. 23; Investigation: America 'covered up' for KLA ally: US officials are accused of withholding evidence linking a Kosovo politician to a gunfight and war crimes
[14] BBC Worldwide Monitoring, July 9, 2000, “Kosovo parties condemn ‘assassination attempt’ against former rebel leader” / Kosovapress news agency web site in Albanian 8 Jul 00
[15] Ibid.
[16] BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 14, 2000, “UN mission said to know ‘armed group’ which attacked Kosovo Albanian leader,” / Kosovapress news agency web site in Albanian 11 Jul 00
[17] Agence France Presse – English, July 9, 2000, Sunday, “Ex-guerrilla chief attacked us: Kosovo Albanians”
[18] Ibid.
[19] Agence France Presse – English, July 12, 2000, Wednesday, Ally of injured political leader shot dead in Kosovo: party
[20] Ibid.
[21] Agence France Presse – English, July 9, 2000, Sunday, “Ex-guerrilla chief attacked us: Kosovo Albanians”
[22] Agence France Presse – English, October 25, 2000, Wednesday “Ramush Haradinaj: Kosovo's heavyweight outsider”
[23] Agence France Presse – English; July 7, 2000, Friday; Ethnic Albanian former guerrilla leader wounded: KFOR
[24] Agence France Presse – English; July 12, 2000, Wednesday; Ally of injured political leader shot dead in Kosovo: party
[25] The Observer; September 10, 2000; Pg. 23; Investigation: America 'covered up' for KLA ally: US officials are accused of withholding evidence linking a Kosovo politician to a gunfight and war crimes
[26] BBC Worldwide Monitoring; December 5, 2004, Sunday; Former Serbian justice minister says Kosovo premier "war criminal"; Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1350 gmt 5 Dec 04
[27] Blic; December 5, 2004; New Kosovo Prime Minister committed numerous crimes
[28] The Observer; September 10, 2000; Pg. 23; Investigation: America 'covered up' for KLA ally: US officials are accused of withholding evidence linking a Kosovo politician to a gunfight and war crimes
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Agence France Presse – English, October 25, 2000, Wednesday “Ramush Haradinaj: Kosovo's heavyweight outsider”
[32] The Observer; September 10, 2000; Pg. 23; Investigation: America 'covered up' for KLA ally: US officials are accused of withholding evidence linking a Kosovo politician to a gunfight and war crimes
[33]
U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control,
06/27/2001, Executive Order of June 27, 2001;
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20010627a.shtml
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