Who in the Balkans wants to destroy America?

The Article

11 April 06

The news that a group of mujahadeens headed for Osama bin Laden’s jihad were captured on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan would be nothing new, had the Pakistani authorities not announced that one of them was an Albanian citizen. Clearly, Clinton’s cooperation with Balkan Islamists in the 1990s is only now turning like a boomerang against the US.

While the official affront is that Bosnian Muslims and Albanians are American allies in the war on terror, the US forces are tied up in Bosnia monitoring and chasing the jihadists who have made Bosnia and Albanian inhabited areas in the Balkans their domicile. Overtly then, Balkan Muslims are supporting the West, while covertly they may seek destruction of it.

The American strategists believed that by caving into territorial demands Balkan Muslims are making, the newly established Islamic entities will, because of the American influence and endorsement of it, be a model to the Islamic world, showing the right political path. The Christians of Bosnia, for example, are increasingly being centralized under Islamic authority; Christian Croats are spliced within Muslim federation and dominated by them while the Serbian entity is under tremendous political pressure and may disappear. Meanwhile, Bosnian Muslims want to offer Muslim Turks a dual citizenship because they consider these centuries old occupiers of Bosnia their liberators.........(continued)............

Albanians In Presevo Protest

Presevo, 10 Apr 06 (KosovaLive) - About a thousand Albanians gathered in Presevo this Saturday for demonstrations. The motto of the protest was “We demand serious measures in solving the problems of the Presevo Valley.”

The demonstration was held in downtown Presevo, with many of the protesters carrying placards with mottos such as “Presevo Valley is Kosovo” and “We demand a demilitarization of the region.”

Presevo Municipal President Ragmi Mustafa said that Albanians in South Serbia must solve their problems exclusively through peaceful methods.

Leader of the Democratic Progress Movement in Presevo, Orhan Rexhepi, said that the multi-ethnic police in the Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja region must have greater jurisdiction in order to secure peace for the Albanian community living in that region. Some people gathered at the protest, which ended without incident, were referring to the Presevo Valley region as “East Kosovo.” (Beta)

Jovanovic: Serbia To Recognize Kosova Independence

10 Apr 06 (Epoka e Re) – The Former Prime Minister and current Leader of Serb opposition, Cedomir Jovanovic asked Serbia to recognize Kosova independence. “This is a good chance to take off our historical chains that are dragging us down and to create a civilized Serbia. Serbia can no longer govern Kosova” stated Jovanovic for Belgrade daily newspaper “Danas”.

Former deputy of the murdered Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, currently President of Liberal-Democratic Party, has proposed a constitutional contract between Kosova and Serbia, which will recognize the sovereignty of Kosova, and through which the Serb minority should have a veto for every amendment in constitution.

“Serbs should have the same rights in Education, Justice, Police and a guaranteed number of Serb representatives in Parliament. Till the day when these requests are fulfilled, Kosova must have a conditional independence”, stated the President of Liberal-Democratic Party for “Danas”.

He declared that the current Governors of Belgrade are still under the trap of nationalism for a “Greater Serbia” and accuses them for holding back the development of Serbia through their “false patriotism”. LDP Leader stated that Serbia will only have benefits through Kosova independence, adding that Kostunica and Tadic have to stop bluffing their nation.

The recognition of Kosova independence by Serbia will possibly make a better constitutional situation for Serbs in Kosova. Based on this, the key for Albanians and Serbs agreement is clear: “First, the recognition of Kosova independence by Serbia, and Second the recognition of Serbs’ status in Kosova by the Albanians”.

Asked what he thinks about virtual sovereignty towards Kosova, on which the Serbian Policy is insisting, Jovanovic answered: “When Kostunica and Tadic talk about sovereignty, they talk from “Garasinin’s Necertanije” point of view.

When they talk about the protection of Serbs’ national interests, they talk about the protection of territory and not people. Because of this wrong Policy, we have paid our bills in Croatia and Bosnia”.

“It is absolutely clear that since 1999 Kosova is independent from Serbia, and Serbia can have influence in Kosova issues only through an agreement with the International Union”. At this point, Jovanovic stated that his Party is ready to take over responsibility, due to their approval for independent Kosova.

Jovanovic names the Vienna negotiations as a “Political Farce”, which represents a dialogue between deaf people. In the second part of 2006, the international community will submit a document to Belgrade and Prishtina, in which the IC will guarantee a qualitative perspective of Kosova, instead of the current frustrating situation.

This will be the formula “Take it, or leave it”, in which case the Albanian team has no reason to give up from such a thing, while our politicians have too many personal interests to give up on such a solution, because the approval from their side would have been an introduction in Serbia redefinition, which is a premise for creation of modern Serbia, where they have nothing to look for, because their vision for Serbia belongs to the vision of 19th Century.

Former UNMIK Spokesperson Leader Of Criminal Organization

Prishtina, 08 Mar 06 (Balkan Web) – The PDK President Hashim Thaçi made fierce accusations against the former UNMIK spokesperson, Simon Haselock and the Kosova Government of having ties with criminal organizations. In an interview to the daily Kosova Sot, Thaçi stated that Haselock is one of the leaders of a criminal organization operating in Kosova, which is being financed by the current government.

“You can see the current situation in Kosova. We have a catastrophic power supply situation. The current Ministry has not managed to create policies that would provide power to the citizens of Kosova. This ministry is not the Ministry of Energy, but the Ministry of Darkness. Different regions in Kosova have stayed and still stay 12 hours without power. This was and is political punishment for the disobedience of the citizens in relation to the current ruling coalition. The privatization process is privatized by the current authorities. Double and punishing standards are being applied in the privatization process. Unfortunately, several UNMIK officials are involved in these negative phenomena. One of them is the former UNMIK Spokesperson Simon Haselock. Now, he is one of the leaders of a criminal organization in Kosova. He is being financed by the current government and receiving 90 thousand euros a month,” said Thaçi.

Albanian fugitive arrested in Macedonia after regional police action

The Article

7 April 06

TETOVO, Macedonia -- Lulzim Berisha, wanted under an international arrest warrant for numerous crimes, was arrested in Tetovo, Macedonia, following a joint action of the Macedonian, Albanian and UNMIK police, according to local media reports Friday (7 April). Officials say he was carrying a forged Macedonian passport when he was detained. Berisha, 38, is charged in Albania with murder, as well as charges related to trafficking and prostitution. (A1 TV, Makfax, Focus - 07/04/06)

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RS organised crime prosecutors could start operations in June

The Article

10/04/2006

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- Republika Srpska's (RS) new special prosecutors for organised crime and grave economic crimes could begin operations in June, according to RS Justice Minister Omer Visic. In an interview in Monday's (10 April) edition of Nezavisne novine, Visic said that if the newly adopted law, which provides for the launch of special court and prosecutorial departments to process organised crime and war crimes cases, is promulgated in the Official Gazette by 15 April, the units can open 15 days later. That in turn would clear the way for proceedings in May, which could lead to the launch of probes in June, he explained.

In other news, BiH Human Rights and Refugees Minister Mirsad Kebo criticised the Federation of BiH (FBiH) government Sunday for failing to respond to his inquiry regarding Sarajevo Serbs missing since the BiH conflict. Kebo told reporters that he sent a letter on 17 March to FBiH Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic, requesting information about activities undertaken by the entity government to establish the fate of the missing, but has received no answer thus far. (Nezavisne novine, Dnevni avaz - 10/04/06; RTRS - 09/04/06)

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Serbia promises to deliver Mladic

The Article

7 April 2006

Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian Prime Minister, assured Carla del Ponte, the UN chief prosecutor, that it would hand over the former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic to The Hague war crimes tribunal by the end of April, her spokesman said.

NI_MPU('middle'); The handover of Mr Mladic, indicted twice for genocide in the 1992-95 Bosnia war, is a condition for closer ties between Serbia and the EU.

Belgrade has said that it is doing all it can to deliver Mladic.Ms Del Ponte has said that the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic last month before a verdict in his war crimes trial has made arresting Mr Mladic all the more urgent.

Mr Mladic commanded Bosnian Serb forces and is indicted for genocide along with his political boss, Radovan Karadzic, for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslims and the long siege of Sarajevo in which more than 10,000 civilians were killed. (Reuters)

Montenegro: Anti-Independence Campaign Kicks Off

The Article

6 April 2006

Opposition activists go door to door to convince voters that they are better off staying in the state union with Serbia. By Bojana Stanisic in Podgorica(Balkan Insight, 6 Apr 06) The Montenegrin opposition, which backs the existing state union with Serbia, is rallying its supporters in the run up to May's referendum on possible independence. More than 15,000 pro-union activists are taking part in an ongoing door-to-door campaign orchestrated by a new referendum headquarters located in Podgorica. "

Our principal objective is that every opponent of [pro-independence] Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's regime casts their ballot for the joint state with Serbia," said Dobrilo Dedeic, a spokesman of the Serb People's Party, one of the four Montenegrin opposition parties in the unionist coalition. Podgorica analysts expect the opposition to highlight the state union's economic and security benefits for Montenegro in its campaign, while accusing the pro-independence coalition government of corruption and involvement in organised crime.......(continued)...........

Bosnian Serb found guilty of war crimes

The Article

SARAJEVO, April 7, 2006 (Reuters) - A Bosnian Serb was sentenced on Friday to more than 13 years in prison for crimes committed during the 1992-95 war -- the first verdict and sentence by Bosnia's war crimes chamber after a year of operation.

"Nedjo Samardzic is found guilty of crimes against humanity committed in 1992 and 1993 during the large-scale and systematic attacks by the Bosnian Serb army and police ... he aided and abetted persecution, rape and torture," the judge said.

Samardzic, now 38, was serving a prison term for murder when he escaped and joined the Bosnian Serb army in 1992. His unit attacked Muslim villages near the eastern town of Foca, scene of some of the most gruesome atrocities in a war that claimed more than 100,000 lives.
The judge said he imprisoned and tortured civilians and repeatedly raped women, including three underage girls who were held for months.

Samardzic was sentenced to 12 years in jail for the wartime crimes and to another 16 months for escaping prison........(continued).............

EU prepares for police mission in Kosovo

The Article

7 Apr 06

The EU is stepping up preparations to increase its presence in Kosovo once the future status of the territory has been decided, according to Balkans news agency DTT-NET.But any security mission in the region is likely to put a serious strain on the EU’s finances.EU officials on Friday (7 April) announced that foreign ministers will on Monday agree to create a team of security and law experts, charged with planning and designing a new role for the 25 nation bloc in providing security to Kosovo."The (EU) Council is due to adopt a Joint Action establishing an EU planning team regarding an envisaged EU crisis management operation in the field of rule of law and possible other areas", said an official from Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency........(continued)...........

Selimi: TMK Fulfills All Conditions For Becoming Kosova's Army

06 Apr 06 (Epoka e Re) – TMK commander, Gen. Sylejman Selimi, declared on Wednesday that the TMK as an organization fulfills all conditions in becoming an army, but according to him TMK’s future depends on the status solution.

In the interview for BETA news agency, Selimi said that “TMK is an institution for all Kosova citizens, regardless of their nationality, always ready and capable to defend their interests”.

In their composition TMK has 3,000 active and 2,000 reserve troops. “In the many activities that we had in the mixed municipalities, and in the places where only the minorities live there was an outstanding level of cooperation between the residents and TMK, even though in the beginning it was different but it changed during the activities” said the TMK commander.

According to Gen. Selimi, at the moment in the TMK are 6.2% representatives of the minorities, including Serbs, Bosnians, Turks, Ashkali, Romas, Egyptians, Croats, Muslims and Gorans. Gen. Selimi emphasized that there are 44 Serbs, 35 Turks, 34 Ashkali, 13 Croats, 25 Bosnians, 16 Muslims and 14 Roma.

He said that the number of the minorities in the TMK is constantly increasing and that next week they will review 30 requests of which 15 are Serbs. The Serbian candidates who want to join the TMK are under Belgrade’s pressure not to join the TMK, said Selimi.

“It they join the TMK they have to face a huge amount pressure calling on them to quit. That’s why we had differences within the Serbian members who couldn’t face these pressures and quit the TMK” said Selimi.

Ethnic Albanians protest in Presevo

The Article

09/04/2006

PRESEVO, Serbia-Montenegro -- About a thousand ethnic Albanians gathered for a protest on Saturday (8 April) in Presevo, southern Serbia, demanding more rights and sustainable solutions to the problems in the region. Demonstrators raised banners calling for the demilitarisation of the area, as well as for the granting of more powers to the multiethnic police there. Addressing participants in the rally, the acting mayor of Presevo, Ragmi Mustafa, stressed that the ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia must seek resolution of their problems exclusively by peaceful means. No incidents were reported during the protests. (RTS, B92 - 08/04/06)incrementCount('setimes/newsbriefs/2006/04/09/nb-03','setimes','en_GB');

Independence by Minority?

The Article

10 April 06

Montenegro’s ethnic-Albanian minority may prove decisive in the forthcoming independence referendum, potentially pushing the yes vote over the 55 percent quota required by the EU.All polls so far have shown the pro-independence bloc leading by only a few percentage points.The Albanian vote has been an important issue in Montenegrin elections of the past.

Ethnic Albanians account for roughly 5 percent of the population, or about 30,000 out of a total just over 600,000 people.Under stringent voting rules demanded by the EU, a pro-independence vote must garner at least 55 percent of the votes cast and a voter turnout of at least 50 percent to be valid.Montenegro is the last republic of former Yugoslavia to still be associated with Serbia, in a dysfunctional state union brokered by the EU in 2003.

Two recent events reminded Montenegrins of the importance of the Albanian vote: a protest in Podgorica on 23 March by residents of Tuzi, a mostly ethnic-Albanian district of the Montenegrin capital, and an interview by a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) with the pro-Serbian daily Dan. In the interview, former UCK leader Adem Demaci made several radical statements, suggesting that Kosovo and Montenegro might one day be “united” and that ethnic-Albanian votes would bring independence to Montenegro.

UNION OF NON-SERBS?

Demaci’s statements added fuel to an already heated dispute between the pro-union and pro-independence blocs. It didn’t help that Demaci – the former leader of a group that Serbia and Montenegro consider a terrorist organization – praised Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, saying Kosovars would be honored to have him as their prime minister.....(continued)......

Today Kosovo Tomorrow Israel and the West

The Article

10 April 06

Negotiations regarding the future status of Kosovo have begun and it is increasingly clear that the overwhelming majority of the world media, not to mention the government of the United States and its allies, favor giving independence to the Serbian province of Kosovo, which since the 1999 war has been administered by the United Nations under NATO military control. In effect, the western world is in favor of detaching Kosovo from (Christian) Serbia by fiat of power and making it into an independent Muslim state.

The main argument of those supporting this scenario - notably in the United States, where advocates of the Muslim Albanian cause are very well funded - is that by doing so America would repair its image in the Islamic world and show that Americans do not have anti-Islamic inclinations. This, they think, would co-opt the influence of Islamic "extremists" and thus spare another possible 9/11 type attack.

Such sentiments can be found in the official report by the 9-11 Commission where it is recommended that America "defends, Muslims against tyrants and criminals in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. If the United States does not act aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world, the extremists will gladly do the job for us." ............(Continued)......

Turkish police break PKK cell

The Article

09/04/2006

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkish police have broken a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) cell and have arrested nine suspects, according to Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler. He said police seized almost 8kg of plastic explosives, as well as equipment to make bombs and fake ID cards, during the raid Friday (7 April). Media reports Saturday said police have also arrested a PKK member suspected of last summer's bombing in the Kusadisi resort, which killed five people and injured 13.

Meanwhile, Turkish security forces have killed seven Kurdish militants in clashes in the southeast of the country. Five of the victims were involved in an earlier ambush in which five soldiers died. The authorities also reported that two police officers, one of them a lieutenant-colonel, were killed by a landmine in the province of Elazig. (TurkishPress.com - 09/04/06; Turks.US, BBC News - 08/04/06; NTV, AFP, BBC - 07/04/06) increment Count('setimes/newsbriefs/2006/04/09/nb-10','setimes','en_GB');

UNMIK gets ultimatum for protecting Visoki Decani Monastery

The Article

8 April 06

In yesterday's issue of the Pristina Albanian language daily "Epoka e re" the rightwing extremist organization "Vetevendosje" (Self-determination), which is headed by Albin Kurti, continued to threaten the Serbian Orthodox Church and UNMIK by citing a series of unfounded accusations for the purpose of heightening ethnic tensions and provoking violence against Christian Orthodox holy shrines in Kosovo.

Since the UNMIK chief is expected on April 15 to extend his executive decision of last year regarding the proclamation of a Special Zoning Area around the Visoki Decani Monastery, which prohibits illegal construction, industrialization and unregulated exploitation of natural resources near the monastery, Kurti's organization warned the UNMIK chief together with other signatories for "abusing these sites for the purpose of repulsive political goals". In its letter quoted yesterday, April 7, in its entirety by "Epoka e re" Vetevendosje states that by this act UNMIK has proclaimed "extraterritoriality of land that belongs to Albanian farmers" and that by this decision UNMIK "has carried out expropriation of 200 hectares of land".

The letter goes on to accuse UNMIK of allegedly preventing Albanian land-owners from cultivating their land because of its decision and states that the presence of a KFOR security checkpoint prevents freedom of movement. The letter even mentions non-existent companies which allegedlly cannot work under the zoning restrictions.

Western Macedonia, Illirida, and Greater Albania

The Article

7 April 06

The Greater Albania ideology envisions not only Kosovo and Metohija as integral part of a Greater Ethnic Albania, but also Western Macedonia, or Illirida. The basis for the Greater Albania strategy can be found in the 1878 League of Prizren. The map and borders for the future Greater Albania were determined by the Ottoman Turkish vilayet system. Kosovo and Metohija and Western Macedonia were part of the Kosovo vilayet. The capital of the Kosovo vilayet was Skopje.

Kosovo-Metohija is not the end of the Greater Albania ideology, but only the beginning. Western Macedonia is central in the Greater Albania goal to create an Ethnic or Greater Albania. Albanian separatism begins with Kosovo, but does not end there. Western Macedonia, or Illirida, and Southern Serbia, or Preseheva, are integral parts of an Ethnic Albania under the Greater Albania ideology. They are the next targets, after Kosovo, of Albanian separatism. Western Macedonia and Southern Serbia were part of the Kosovo vilayet in Ottoman Turkey. During World Wear II, the Kosovo vilayet was incorporated into a Greater Albania. The goal of Albanian separatism is to incorporate all the territory of the former Kosovo vilayet into a Greater or Ethnic Albania.......(continued)........

Six dead, dozen injured in new clashes in Turkey's southeast

The Article

06/04/2006

ANKARA, Turkey -- New clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorists left six dead and about a dozen injured, according to media reports Wednesday (5 April). According to the local media, five Turkish soldiers were killed in the fighting late Tuesday in the southeast province of Sirnak. Another six soldiers, as well as two terrorists, were injured. In the town of Genc, one policeman was killed and seven others wounded in a PKK attack on a police station.

Also Wednesday, two people were injured when a bomb exploded in front of the ruling Justice and Development Party's district office in Istanbul, causing significant damage. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. (AFP - 06/04/06; NTV, TurkishPress.com, CNN - 05/04/06)

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Speaker Wrong on Kosovo

The Article

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

To the Editor:

I am responding to the item “Former Ambassador Calls for Kosovo’s Independence” (THE HOYA, March 24, 2006, A5).

Apparently, Ambassador Morton Abramowitz has never changed his view that “Kosovo must be independent.” One has to wonder what brought about that gem of wisdom by the esteemed ambassador. The degree of disinformation that is out there vis-a-vis Kosovo is unbelievable. According to Mr. Abramowitz’s logic, the criteria for Kosovo’s independence are murder, mayhem and barbarism. Is Europe ready and willing to embrace an intolerant, ethnically cleansed and terrorist-supported Islamic state in its underbelly?

Canada’s retired Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie said it best in an op-ed piece published by the National Post in 2004:

“The Kosovo-Albanians have played us like a Stradivarius [violin],” he wrote. “We have subsidized and indirectly supported their violent campaign for an ethnically pure and independent Kosovo. We have never blamed them for being the perpetrators of the violence in the early ’90s and we continue to portray them as the designated victim today in spite of evidence to the contrary.”

Mr. Abramowitz, be careful what you wish for.

Liz Milanovich
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
March 25, 2006

BiH prosecutors reportedly to charge five people with terrorism

The Article

05/04/2006

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- Sources cited in Wednesday's (5 April) edition of Nezavisne novine say BiH prosecutors plan to file charges against five people suspected of terrorism. Three BiH citizens -- Almir Bajric, Bajra Ikanovic and Senad Husanovic, along with Turkish citizen Cesur Abdulkadir and Swedish citizen Mirsad Bektasevic -- reportedly have been linked to a terror plot in Denmark. They were detained last November in the Sarajevo Canton.

In other news, the BiH Court's appeals chamber upheld on Tuesday a five-year sentence handed down to former Islamic militant Abduladhim Maktouf, stemming from war crimes committed in Travnik. The BiH Court issued the initial sentence in 2005. Maktouf, a former member of the Army of BiH's El Mudzahid unit, was convicted in the October 1993 abduction, imprisonment and torture of five Croat civilians. (Nezavisne novine - 05/04/06; PBS BiH - 04/04/06)
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Six Bosnian Serbs plead not guilty over Srebrenica

The Article

4 Apr 2006

AMSTERDAM, April 4 (Reuters) - Six former Bosnian Serb officers pleaded not guilty on Tuesday at the U.N. war crimes tribunal to charges of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys.The men have already appeared individually before the court but last year their indictments on charges of genocide or complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war were combined in a single indictment.Presiding judge Carmel Agius said in court he plans to start the combined trial in August.

The six men -- Vinko Pandurevic, Ljubisa Beara, Vujadin Popovic, Drago Nikolic, Milorad Trbic and Ljubomir Borovcanin -- all surrendered to the tribunal.Zdravko Tolimir, however, is still on the run.Tolimir was one of several aides to wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic, who is also still at large and one of the tribunal's most wanted men.

Mladic is also indicted over the Srebrenica massacre, the worst mass killing in Europe since world War Two, and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo in which more than 11,000 people died.The Hague tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte insists Mladic is sheltered by hardline army officers in Serbia, which Belgrade denies.

Two other Mladic aides are also named in the indictment but they are not charged with genocide.Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero, who are currently on provisional release, are charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of wars including murder, persecution, forcible transfer and deportation.

Dangerous Albanian Criminal Arrested in Macedonia

The Article

7 April 2006

Dangerous Albanian criminal Lulzim Berisha who is wanted for murder, trafficking of drugs and arms and for instigation to prostitution was arrested in Tetovo during joint operation of Macedonian and Albanian police and UN Mission in Kosovo, Albanian Interior Minister Sokol Olldashi stated yesterday evening cited by Macedonian agency Makfax. Minister Olldashi explained Berisha was arrested yesterday in flat in Tetovo; during the arrest forged passport was found on him with which he traveled around Macedonia. According to Tirana media Lulzim Berisha is the main organizer of a criminal group. It is suspected the members of this group committed numerous murders, larceny, etc. Berisha left Albania a month ago.