Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Kosovo Liberation Army

Kosovo Liberation Army ---
tags: Islamic terrorism, liberation, Balkans, NATO

NATO (and Iran) backed the KLA war against the  forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, (by this time, consisting of the Republics of Montenegro and Serbia) which controlled Kosovo before the war,

Yugoslav wars (1991–1999)[edit]

Further information: Yugoslav wars

One of the former State Department officials described Bosnia and Herzegovina of that time as a safe haven for terrorists, after it was revealed that militant elements of the former Sarajevo government were protecting extremists include hard-core terrorists, some with ties to Osama bin Laden.[20]

In 1997, Rzeczpospolita, one of the largest Polish daily newspapers, reported that intelligence services of the Nordic-Polish SFOR Brigade suspected that a center for training terrorists from Islamic countries was located in the Bocina Donja village near Maglaj in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, thousands of volunteers joined an "all-mujahedeen unit" called El Moujahed, which was headquartered in Zenica in an abandoned hillside factory, a compound with a hospital and prayer hall. According to Middle East intelligence reports. Bin Laden financed small convoys of recruits from the Arab world through his businesses in Sudan. Among them was Karim Said Atmani who was identified by authorities as the document forger for a group of Algerians accused of plotting the bombings in the USA.[21] He is a former roommate of Ahmed Ressam, the man arrested at the Canadian-U.S. border in mid-December 1999 with a car full of nitroglycerin and bomb-making materials.[22][23] He was convicted of colluding with Osama bin Laden by a French court.[24] A Bosnian government search of passport and residency records, conducted at the urging of the United States, revealed other former mujahideen who are linked to the same Algerian group or to other suspected terrorist groups and who have lived in this area 60 miles north of Sarajevo, the capital, in the past few years. Khalil al-Deek, was arrested in Jordan in late December 1999 on suspicion of involvement in a plot to blow up tourist sites; a second man with Bosnian citizenship, Hamid Aich, lived in Canada at the same time as Atmani and worked for a charity associated with Osama Bin Laden. In its June 26, 1997 Report on the bombing of the Al Khobar building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the New York Times noted that those arrested confessed to serving with Bosnian Muslims forces. Further, the terrorists also admitted to ties with Osama Bin Laden. In 1999 it was revealed that Osama bin Laden and his Tunisian assistant Mehrez Aodouni were granted citizenship and Bosnian passport in 1993 by the Government in Sarajevo. This information was denied by Bosnian government following the 9/11 attacks but it was later found out that Aodouni was arrested in Turkey and that at that time he possessed the Bosnian passport. Following this revelation new explanation was given that bin Laden "did not personally collect his Bosnian passport" and that officials at the Bosnian embassy in Vienna, which issued the passport, could not have known who bin Laden was at the time.[25][26] The Bosnian daily Oslobođenje published in 2001 that three men, believed linked to be linked to Osama Bin Laden, were arrested in Sarajevo in July 2001. The three, one of whom was identified as Imad El Misri, were Egyptian nationals. The paper said that two of the suspects were holding Bosnian passports.

In 1998 it was reported that bin Laden is operating his terrorist network out of Albania. The Charleston Gazette quoted Fatos Klosi, the head of the Albanian intelligence service, as saying a network run by Saudi exile Osama Bin Laden sent units to fight in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Confirmation of these activities came from Claude Kader, a French national who said he was a member of Bin Laden's Albanian network. He claimed he had visited Albania to recruit and arm fighters for Kosovo.[27] In 2000 bin Laden was operating from Kosovo planning the terrorist activities during the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley.[28]

Connections between bin Laden and National Liberation Army, an insurgent, guerrilla organization that operated in the Republic of Macedonia in 2001 were also drawn. According to the Washington Times the NLA was fighting to keep control over the region’s drug trafficking, which had grown into a large, lucrative enterprise since the Kosovo war and that in addition to drug money, the NLA also had another prominent venture capitalist, Osama Bin Laden. According to a document written by the chief commander of the Macedonian Security Forces, bin Laden was financing the rebel group through a representative in Macedonia. Osama Bin Laden, paid $6 to $7 million for the needs of the National Liberation Army through his representative. Osama Bin Laden was planning to gain control over Macedonia so that he could control the distribution of oil to the United States through the pipeline that was planned to stretch from Bulgaria to Albania ports.[29]

The KLA, formed in 1991, initiated its first campaign in 1995 when it launched [Islamist terrorism] attacks targeting Serbian law enforcement in Kosovo [like targeting police in US], and in June 1996 the group claimed responsibility for acts of sabotage targeting Kosovo police stations. In 1997, the organisation acquired a large amount of arms through [Iran backed] weapons smuggling from Albania, following a rebellion which saw large numbers of weapons looted from the country's police and army posts. In 1998, KLA [terrorist] attacks targeting Yugoslav authorities in Kosovo resulted in an increased presence of Serb paramilitaries and regular forces who subsequently began pursuing a campaign of retribution targeting KLA sympathisers and political opponents in a drive which killed 1,500 to 2,000 civilians and KLA combatants, with civilians being targeted by the Yugoslav Army. Its campaign against Yugoslav security forces precipitated a major Yugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998–1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces led by Slobodan Milošević and Serb paramilitaries within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians, which was called ethnic cleansing.

After attempts at a diplomatic solution failed, NATO intervened, justifying the campaign in Kosovo as a "humanitarian war".[59] This precipitated a mass expulsion of Kosovars by Serbs while Yugoslav forces continued to fight during the aerial bombardment of Yugoslavia (March–June 1999).[60][61] By the year 2000, investigations had recovered the remains of almost three thousand victims of all ethnicities,[62] and in 2001 a United Nations administered Supreme Court, based in Kosovo, found that there had been "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments", but that Serb troops had tried to remove rather than eradicate the Albanian population.[63]

The war ended with the Kumanovo Treaty, with Yugoslav forces agreeing to withdraw from Kosovo to make way for an international presence.

Kosovo is now a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. While Serbia recognises the Republic's governance of the territory, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

KLA volunteers were drawn from muslim communities allied with Osama Bin Laden: Former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi said that volunteers came from "Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany and the US." Islamist volunteers from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organized by Islamist leaders in Western Europe allied to Bin Laden and Zawahiri. Some 175 Yemeni mujahideen arrived in early May 1998. The KLA included many foreign volunteers from West Europe, mostly from Germany and Switzerland, and also ethnic Albanians from the US. According to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by September 1998, there was 1,000 foreign mercenaries from Albania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslims) and Croatia. Some questioned supporting Kosovo Liberation Army: "Does Clinton Policy Support Group with Terror, Drug Ties?"   Intelligence officials have said there are reports that KLA members have been TRAINED at bin Laden training camps in Afghanistan".

Kosovo history:

 In 1766, the Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Peć and the position of Christians in Kosovo further deteriorated, including full imposition of jizya (taxation of non-Muslims). Although initially stout opponents of the advancing Turks, Albanian chiefs ultimately came to accept the Ottomans as sovereigns. The resulting alliance facilitated the mass conversion of Albanians to Islam 19th century, there was an awakening of ethnic nationalism throughout the Balkans. ethnic tensions struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians.

In order to change the ethnic composition of Kosovo, between 1912 and 1941 a large-scale Serbian re-colonisation of Kosovo was undertaken by the Belgrade government. Meanwhile, Kosovar Albanians' right to receive education in their own language was denied alongside other non-Slavic or unrecognised Slavic nations of Yugoslavia, as the kingdom only recognised the Slavic Croat, Serb, and Slovene nations as constituent nations of Yugoslavia, while other Slavs had to identify as one of the three official Slavic nations while non-Slav nations were only deemed as minorities.[62]

Albanians and other Muslims were forced to emigrate, mainly with the land reform which struck Albanian landowners in 1919, but also with direct violent measures.[63][64] In 1935 and 1938 two agreements between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Turkey were signed on the expatriation of 240,000 Albanians to Turkey, which was not completed because of the outbreak of World War II.

After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled [muslim dominated]Albania, with the rest being controlled by Germany and Bulgaria.

Under communism Islam in Kosovo at this time was repressed and both Albanians and Muslim Slavs were encouraged to declare themselves to be Turkish and emigrate to Turkey.

By the end of the 1970s Due to very high birth rates, the proportion of Albanians increased from 75% to over 90%. In contrast, the number of Serbs barely increased, and in fact dropped from 15% to 8% of the total population, since many Serbs departed from Kosovo as a response to the tight economic climate and increased incidents of alleged harassment from their Albanian neighbours

 in 1986 the Serbian Orthodox Church published an official claim that Kosovo Serbs were being subjected to an Albanian program of 'Genocide'.

2 July 1990 a majority of members of the Kosovo Assembly passed a resolution declaring the Republic of Kosova within the Yugoslav Federation;

1996 the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an [Iran backed] ethnic Albanian guerrilla paramilitary group, had prevailed over the non-violent resistance movement and had started presenting armed resistance to Serbian and Yugoslav security forces, resulting in early stages of the Kosovo War.[86][90]

 24 March and 10 June 1999, NATO intervened by bombing Yugoslavia aimed to force Milošević to withdraw his forces from Kosovo,[91]

 million ethnic Albanians fled or were forcefully driven from Kosovo. In 1999 more than 11,000 deaths were reported to Carla Del Ponte by her prosecutors.[93] Some 3,000 people are still missing, of which 2,500 are Albanian, 400 Serbs and 100 Roma.[94] Ultimately by June, Milošević had agreed to a foreign military presence within Kosovo and withdrawal of his troops.

 Kosovo tension between largely muslim Albanian Albania: 58% muslim 17% christian

*Reference



*Counterjihad

*Muslim Issue (counterjihad)

Who Are the Kosovans Being Blamed for Clashes?

The Kosovo Liberation Army (abbreviated KLA; Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës—UÇK) was an ethnic-Albanian [Muslim] paramilitary organisation which sought the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Its campaign against Yugoslav security forces precipitated a major Yugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998–1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces led by Slobodan Milošević and Serb paramilitaries within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians. As usual, these countries were not allowed to govern themselves and cleanse themselves off this Muslim problem and a so called “refugee crisis” caused NATO to intervene militarily. The removal of Muslims who caused all the problems in the region was referred to as “an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.”

Later the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) legally found that Serbia “use[d] violence and terror to force a significant number of Kosovo Albanians from their homes and across the borders, in order for the state authorities to maintain control over Kosovo… This campaign was conducted by army and Interior Ministry police forces (MUP) under the control of FRY and Serbian authorities, who were responsible for mass expulsions [the only sensible thing to do] of [muslim] Kosovo Albanian civilians from their homes, as well as incidents of killings, sexual assault, and the intentional destruction of mosques.”...

KLA Disbands And Takes New Form

In 1999 the KLA was officially disbanded and their members entered Kosovo Protection Corps, a civilian emergency protection body to replace the former KLA (foreseen by UNSC Resolution 1244) and Kosovo Police Force. Some of the Kosovo Liberation Army leadership opted to enter politics leading key government positions at times. In other words, with NATO assistance the Muslims had now penetrated into every office in the country and the problem had now been extended into a permanent problem.

Muslim Terrorist “Volunteers” Joined From All Over The World

Former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi said that volunteers came from “Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany and the US.” Islamist volunteers from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organized by Islamist leaders in Western Europe allied to Bin Laden and Zawahiri. Some 175 Yemeni mujahideen arrived in early May 1998. The KLA included many foreign volunteers from West Europe, mostly from Germany and Switzerland, and also ethnic Albanians from the US. According to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by September 1998, there was 1,000 foreign mercenaries from Albania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslims) and Croatia.

*Wikipedia

Kosovo Liberation Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Liberation_Army
Jump to Status as a terrorist group - [edit]. The Yugoslav authorities, under Slobodan Milošević, regarded the KLA as a terrorist group. In February 1998 ...

Kosovo Liberation Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kosovo Liberation Army
Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës
Participant in Kosovo War
UCK KLA.svg
Active1996[1] – 1999[2] (est. 1992–93[3] but relatively passive until 1996)
LeadersHashim Thaçi
Bilall Syla
LKCK
Zahir Pajaziti  †
Adem Jashari  †
Agim Çeku
Fatmir Limaj
Ramush Haradinaj
Bekim Berisha  †
[4]
Agim Ramadani  †
Area of operationsKosovo, FR Yugoslavia
Strength6,000–20,000[5] or 25,000–30,000[6]
BecameKosovo Protection Corps
AlliesAlbania, NATO
OpponentsYugoslavia
Battles and wars
The Kosovo Liberation Army (abbreviated KLA; Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës—UÇK) was an ethnic-Albanian paramilitary organisation which sought the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia during the 1990s and the eventual creation of aGreater Albania.[a] Its campaign against Yugoslav security forces precipitated a majorYugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998–1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces led by Slobodan Milošević and Serb paramilitaries within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians and a refugee crisis that eventually caused NATO to intervene militarily in order to stop what was widely identified as an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.[12][13] Later the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) legally found that Serbia "use[d] violence and terror to force a significant number of Kosovo Albanians from their homes and across the borders, in order for the state authorities to maintain control over Kosovo... This campaign was conducted by army and Interior Ministrypolice forces (MUP) under the control of FRY and Serbian authorities, who were responsible for mass expulsions of Kosovo Albanian civilians from their homes, as well as incidents of killings, sexual assault, and the intentional destruction of mosques."[14]
The conflict was ended by an "almost-imposed" negotiated agreement that requested the UN to take over the administration and political process, including local institutional building and determine the final status of the region.
In 1999 the KLA was officially disbanded and their members entered Kosovo Protection Corps, a civilian emergency protection body to replace the former KLA (foreseen by UNSC Resolution 1244) and Kosovo Police Force.[15] Some of the Kosovo Liberation Army leadership opted to enter politics leading key government positions at times.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Further information: Insurgency in Kosovo (1992–98)
In February 1996 the KLA undertook a series of attacks against police stations and Yugoslav government officers, saying that they had killed Albanian civilians as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign.[16] Serbian authorities denounced the KLA as a terrorist organisation and increased the number of security forces in the region. This had the counter-productive effect of boosting the credibility of the embryonic KLA among the Kosovo Albanian population.
In 1996 the British weekly The European carried an article by a French expert stating that "German civil and military intelligence services have been involved in training and equipping the rebels with the aim of cementing German influence in the Balkan area. (...) The birth of the KLA in 1996 coincided with the appointment of Hansjoerg Geiger as the new head of the BND (German secret Service). (...) The BND men were in charge of selecting recruits for the KLA command structure from the 500,000 Kosovars in Albania."[17] Former senior adviser to the German parliament Matthias Küntzel tried to prove later on that German secret diplomacy had been instrumental in helping the KLA since its creation.[18]
According to the report of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, the "Kosovo Liberation Army ... attacks aimed at trying to 'cleanse' Kosovo of its ethnic Serb population."[19]
The Yugoslav Red Cross had estimated a total of 30,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo, most of whom were Serb. The UNHCR estimated the figure at 55,000 refugees who had fled to Montenegro and Central Serbia, most of whom were Kosovo Serbs: "Over 90 mixed villages in Kosovo have now been emptied of Serb inhabitants and other Serbs continue leaving, either to be displaced in other parts of Kosovo or fleeing into central Serbia."
The NATO North Atlantic Council had stressed that KLA was "the main initiator of the violence" and that it had "launched what appears to be a deliberate campaign of provocation".[19][unreliable source?]

Kosovo War[edit]

Main article: Kosovo War
According to Roland Keith, a field office director of the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission:[20]

Foreign volunteers[edit]

Former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi said that volunteers came from "Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany and the US."[21] Islamist volunteers from Western Europe of ethnic Albanian, Turkish, and North African origin, were organized by Islamist leaders in Western Europe allied to Bin Laden and Zawahiri.[6] Some 175 Yemeni mujahideen arrived in early May 1998.[6] The KLA included many foreign volunteers from West Europe, mostly from Germany and Switzerland, and also ethnic Albanians from the US.[22][unreliable source?] According to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by September 1998, there was 1,000 foreign mercenaries from Albania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslims) and Croatia.[23]

Aftermath (post-1999)[edit]


UÇK monument in Deçan
After the war, the KLA was transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, which worked alongside NATO forces patrolling the province.[24] The KLA legacy remains powerful within Kosovo. Its former members still play a major role in Kosovar politics.
Ali Ahmeti organised the NLA that fought in the Insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia, of former KLA fighters from Kosovo and Macedonia, Albanian insurgents from Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac in Serbia, young Albanian radicals and nationalists from Macedonia, and foreign mercenaries.[25] The acronym was the same as KLA's in Albanian.[25]
Its former political head Hashim Thaçi is now the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Prime Minister of Kosovo since January 2008.
The KLA's former military head, Agim Çeku, after the war became Prime Minister of Kosovo. The move caused some controversy in Serbia, as Belgrade regarded him as a war criminal, though he was never indicted by the Hague tribunal.[26]
Ramush Haradinaj, a former KLA commander, served briefly as Prime Minister of Kosovo before he turned himself into the ICTY at The Hague to stand trial on war crimes charges,[27] and was later acquitted.
Fatmir Limaj, one of the senior commanders of the KLA, was also tried at The Hague, and was acquitted of all charges in November 2005.[28] Hajredin Bala, an ex-KLA prison guard, was sentenced on 30 November 2005 to 13 years’ imprisonment for the mistreatment of three prisoners at the Llapushnik prison camp, his personal role in the "maintenance and enforcement of the inhumane conditions" of the camp, aiding the torture of one prisoner, and of participating in the murder of nine prisoners from the camp who were marched to the Berisha Mountains on 25 or 26 July 1998 and killed. Bala appealed the sentence and the appeal is still pending.[29][needs update]

Foreign support[edit]


Members of the Kosovo Liberation Army turn over their weapons to U.S. Marines
James Bissett, Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania, wrote in 2001 that media reports indicate that "as early as 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency assisted by the BritishSpecial Air Service were arming and training Kosovo Liberation Army members in Albania to foment armed rebellion in Kosovo. (...) The hope was that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene ..."[30][clarification needed] According to Tim Judah, KLA representatives had already met with American, British, and Swiss intelligence agencies in 1996, and possibly "several years earlier"[31] and according to The Sunday Times, "American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia".[32] Intelligence agents denied, however, that they were involved in arming the KLA.
American Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, while opposed to American ground troops in Kosovo, advocated for America providing support to the Kosovo Liberation to help them gain their freedom.[33] He was honored by the Albanian American Civic League at a New Jersey located fundraising event on 23 July 2001. President of the League, Joseph J. DioGuardi, praised Rohrabacher for his support to the Kosovo Liberation Army, saying "He was the first member of Congress to insist that the United States arm the Kosovo Liberation Army, and one of the few members who to this day publicly supports the independence of Kosovo."[34] Rohrabacher gave a speech in support of American equipping the KLA with weaponry, comparing it to French support of America in the Revolutionary War, saying "Based on our own experience, the Kosovo Liberation Army should have been armed." "If the U.S. had armed the KLA in 1998, we would not be where we are today. The 'freedom fighters' would have secured their freedom and Kosovo would be independent."[35][36]

Reported abuses[edit]

There have been reports of war crimes committed by the KLA both during and after the conflict. These have been directed against Serbs, other ethnic minorities (primarily the Roma) and against ethnic Albanians accused of collaborating with Serb authorities.[37] According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW):
The KLA was responsible for serious abuses… including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state. Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes.[38]
The KLA engaged in tit-for-tat attacks against Serbian nationalists in Kosovo, reprisals against ethnic Albanians who "collaborated" with the Serbian government, and bombed police stations and cafes known to be frequented by Serb officials, killing innocent civilians in the process. Most of its activities were funded by drug running, though its ties to community groups and Albanian exiles gave it local popularity.[24]
The Yugoslav authorities regarded the KLA as a terrorist group,[39] though many European governments did not. The Serbian government also reported that the KLA had killed and kidnapped no fewer than 3,276 civilians of various ethnic descriptions including some Albanians.[40]

Weapons confiscated from the KLA, July 1999
The infamous Panda Bar incident, however, which was an attack on Serb teenagers at a cafe, that led to an immediate crackdown on the Albanian-populated southern quarters of Peć (Kapešnica and Zatra), during which Serbian police killed two Kosovo Albanians[41] has been alleged to have been organized by the Serbian government. On 17 January 2014, the Serbian newspaper Kurir reported that a source close to the Serbian government stated that there exists concrete evidence that the crime was ordered by Radomir Markovic (head of State Security Service) and executed by the infamous Milorad Ulemek (Legija), so as to make Kosovo Liberation Army appear as a terrorist organisation.[42] Similar claims, although not accusing the government, were made by Aleksandar Vucic, who stated that there is no evidence that the murder was committed by Albanians, as previously believed.[43]
The exact number of victims of the KLA is not known. According to a Serbian government report, from 1 January 1998 to 10 June 1999 the KLA killed 988 people and kidnapped 287; in the period from 10 June 1999 to 11 November 2001, when NATO took control in Kosovo, 847 were reported to have been killed and 1,154 kidnapped. This comprised both civilians and security force personnel: of those killed in the first period, 335 were civilians, 351 soldiers, 230 police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of the killed civilians were Serbs, 230 Albanians, and 18 of other nationalities. Following the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo in June 1999, all casualties were civilians, the vast majority being Serbs.[40] According to Human Rights Watch, as “many as one thousand Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing since June 12, 1999.”[38]
Carla Del Ponte, a long-time ICTY chief prosecutor, claimed in her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals that there were instances of organ trafficking in 1999 after the end of the Kosovo War. These allegations were dismissed by Kosovar and Albanian authorities.[44] The allegations have been rejected by Kosovar authorities as fabrications while the ICTY has said "no reliable evidence had been obtained to substantiate the allegations".[45]
In early 2011 the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs viewed a report by Dick Marty on the alleged criminal activities andalleged organ harvesting controversy; however, the Members of Parliament criticised the report, citing lack of evidence, and Marty responded that a witness protection program was needed in Kosovo before he could provide more details on witnesses because their lives were in danger.[46] Investigations are still being done.
Kosovo Liberation Army members were sentenced for murdering 32 non-Albanian civilians.[47] In the same case, another 35 civilians are missing while 153 were tortured and released.

Status as a terrorist group[edit]

The Yugoslav authorities, under Slobodan Milošević, regarded the KLA as a terrorist group. In February 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton's special envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, condemned both the actions of the Serb government and of the KLA, and described the KLA as "without any questions, a terrorist group".[48][49][50] UN resolution 1160 took a similar stance.[51][52]
But the 1997 US Department's terrorist list hadn't included the KLA.[53] In March 1998, just one month later Gerbald had to modify his statements to say that KLA had not been classified legally by the U.S. government as a terrorist group,[52] and the US government approached the KLA leaders to make them interlocutors with the Serbs.[54][55][unreliable source?] A Wall Street Journal article claimed later that the US government had in February 1998 removed the KLA from the list of terrorist organisations,[54][56][57] a removal that has never been confirmed.[52] France didn't delist the KLA until late 1998, after strong US and UK lobbying.[58] KLA is still present in the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base list of terrorist groups,[39] and is listed as an inactive terrorist organisation by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.[59]
During the war, the KLA troops collaborated with the NATO troops, and they were qualified by NATO as "freedom fighters". In late 1999 the KLA was disbanded and its members entered the Kosovo Protection Corps.[54]

Drug and arms trafficking[edit]

The KLA has also been connected to drugs and arms trafficking,[60] with it being responsible for 70% of the heroin smuggled into Western Europe in the 1990s.[61] KLA member Agim Gashi was prosecuted in Italy for drug trafficking. Interpol's report in the US Congress of 2000:[62]

Special Court in Kosovo[edit]

On April 14, 2014, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo decided if the Kosovan parliament will vote on the establishment of a special court in Kosovo to try alleged war crimes and other serious crimes committed during and after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.[63] On April 23, 2014, the parliament of Kosovo approved of a special court for serious abuses during and after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. The special court will adjudicate cases against individuals based on a 2010 Council of Europe report by the Swiss senator Dick Marty. The report also accused members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on various alleged crimes.[64] It could be established by 2015.[65][needs update]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ See[7][8][9][10][11]

    Jump up^ DCI Statement: Current and Projected National Security Threats – Central Intelligence Agency. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
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    Jump up^ Albanian Terrorism and Oraganized Crime in Kosovo and Metohija (K&M). White paper published by the Serbian government, September 2003. wordpress.com
    Jump up^ Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism & the Balkan Wars. Cornell University Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-8014-4158-7.
    ^ Jump up to:a b c Yossef Bodansky (4 May 2011). bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America. Crown Publishing Group. pp. 398–403. ISBN 978-0-307-79772-8.
    Jump up^ "State-building in Kosovo. A plural policing perspective". Maklu. 5 February 2015. p. 53.
    Jump up^ "Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and U. S. Intervention". Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. 2012. p. 69.
    Jump up^ "Dictionary of Genocide". Greenwood Publishing Group. 2008. p. 249.
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    Jump up^ "Albanian Insurgents Keep NATO Forces Busy". Time. 6 March 2001.
    Jump up^ UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 4. March–June 1999: An Overview. Hrw.org. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
    Jump up^ Perlez, Jane (24 March 1999). "Conflict In The Balkans: The Overview; Nato Authorizes Bomb Strikes; Primakov, In Air, Skips U.S. Visit". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
    Jump up^ "Five Senior Serb Officials Convicted of Kosovo Crimes, One Acquitted". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
    Jump up^ Perritt, Henry H. (2008). Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09213-8.
    Jump up^ "Unknown Albanian 'liberation army' claims attacks", Agence France Presse, 17 February 1996
    Jump up^ Fallgot, Roger (1998): "How Germany Backed KLA", in The European, 21 – 27 September. pp. 21–27.
    Jump up^ Küntzel, Matthias (2002): Der Weg in den Krieg. Deutschland, die Nato und das Kosovo (The Road to War. Germany, Nato and Kosovo). Elefanten Press. Berlin, Germany. pp. 59–64 ISBN 3885207710.
    ^ Jump up to:a b Allan, Stuart and Zelizer, Barbie (2004). Reporting war: journalism in wartime. Routledge. p. 178. ISBN 0-415-33998-7.
    Jump up^ "Failure of Diplomacy, Returning OSCE Human Rights Monitor Offers A View From the Ground in Kosovo", The Democrat, May 1999, Roland Keith
    Jump up^ . Institute for War & Peace Reporting. 11 November 2001 http://iwpr.net/report-news/kosovars-refute-islamic-terror-claims. the KLA included in its ranks volunteers from Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany and the US. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    Jump up^ "IN THE HOUSE OF KLA RECRUITS". Aimpress.ch. 1999-04-20. Until now, the number of people coming from the West, mostly from Germany and Switzerland, has reached 8 thousand [...] from the USA have arrived at the airport of Tirana about 400
    Jump up^ John Pike (May 1999). "Kosovo Liberation Army [KLA]". Globalsecurity.org.
    ^ Jump up to:a b Council on Foreign Relations, Terrorist Groups and Political Legitimacy, 16 March 2006
    ^ Jump up to:a b Pål Kolstø (2009). Media Discourse and the Yugoslav Conflicts: Representations of Self and Other. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 173.ISBN 0754676293.
    Jump up^ Benner, Jeffrey (21 May 1999) War Criminal, Ally, or Both? at the Wayback Machine (archived March 15, 2005) motherjones.com
    Jump up^ "Kosovo ex-PM war charges revealed". BBC News. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
    Jump up^ Fatmir Limaj at the Wayback Machine (archived October 12, 2007). trial-ch.org
    Jump up^ HARADIN BALA GRANTED TEMPORARY PROVISIONAL RELEASE at the Wayback Machine (archived May 7, 2006). The Hague, 21 April 2006 – Appeals Chamber
    Jump up^ Bissett, James (31 July 2001) WE CREATED A MONSTER at the Wayback Machine (archived May 10, 2008). Toronto Star
    Jump up^ Judah, Tim (2002): Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University Press. New Haven, USA. p. 120 ISBN 0300097255
    Jump up^ " CIA aided Kosovo guerrilla army" by Tom Walker and Aidan Laverty. THE SUNDAY TIMES, London, UK 12 March 2000
    Jump up^ Congress (1999). Congressional Record. Government Printing Office. p. 7743. ISBN 9780160730078. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
    Jump up^ The New American (4 May 2001). "Rohrabacher Shills for the KLA.(Rep Dana Rohrabacher and the Kosovo Liberation Army)(Brief Article)". The New American. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
    Jump up^ The New American (24 September 2001). "Rohrabacher Shills for the KLA.". The New American. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
    Jump up^ The New American (24 September 2001). "Rohrabacher Shills for the KLA.". American Opinion Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
    Jump up^ Human Rights Watch, UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo. hrw.org (2001)
    ^ Jump up to:a b UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo. executive summary. hrw.org (2001)
    ^ Jump up to:a b MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base at the Wayback Machine (archived April 2, 2007) using a web.archive.org copy of 2 April 2007
    ^ Jump up to:a b Victims of the Albanian terrorism in Kosovo-Metohija (Killed, kidnapped, and missing persons, January 1998 – November 2001)
    Žrtve albanskog terorizma na Kosovu i Metohiji (Ubijena, oteta i nestala lica, januar 1998 – novembar 2001). arhiva.srbija.gov.rs
    Jump up^ Human Rights in Kosovo: As Seen, As Told, 1999 (OSCE report)
    Jump up^ Rade Marković dao nalog da se ubiju srpska deca u Peći 1998?!
    Jump up^ State killed journalist, says deputy PM
    Jump up^ The Daily Telegraph, Serb prisoners 'were stripped of their organs in Kosovo war', 14 April 2008
    Jump up^ International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – TPIY. Un.org (5 March 2007). Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
    Jump up^ Politician angers MEPs over Kosovo organ harvesting claim (The Irish Times)
    Jump up^ Bulgaria: Serbia Jails 9 Ethnic Albanian Guerrillas for Crimes in Kosovo – novinite.com – Sofia News Agency. Novinite.com (22 January 2011). Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
    Jump up^ The Kosovo Liberation Army: Does Clinton Policy Support Group with Terror, Drug Ties? From 'Terrorists' to 'Partners', presentation of the Republican Policy Committee to the U.S. Senate, 31 March 1999
    Jump up^ Terrorist Groups and Political Legitimacy Council on Foreign Relations
    Jump up^ Nened Sebak (28 June 1998). "The KLA – terrorists or freedom fighters?". BBC. But only a few months ago Ambassador Gelbard described the KLA as a terrorist organisation. "I know a terrorist when I see one and these men are terrorists," he said earlier this year.
    Jump up^ Resolution 1160 (1998), 31 March 1998, adopted in the 3868th meeting of the Security Council]
    ^ Jump up to:a b c Henriksen, Dag (2007). NATO's gamble: combining diplomacy and airpower in the Kosovo crisis, 1998–1999. Naval Institute Press. pp. 126–129. ISBN 978-1-59114-355-0. [February statements] 'We condemn very strongly terrorist actions in Kosovo. The UÇK (KLA) is, without any questions, a terrorist group.' [March statements] while it has committed 'terrorist acts,' if had 'not been classified legally by the U.S. Government as a terrorist organization'
    Jump up^ Timothy W. Crawford (2001). "Pivotal Deterrence and the Kosovo War: Why the Holbrooke Agreement Failed". Political Science Quarterly 116 (4): 499–523. doi:10.2307/798219. JSTOR 798219.
    ^ Jump up to:a b c Reveron, p. 68
    Jump up^ Gibbs, David N. (2009). First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 181–.ISBN 978-0-8265-1645-9.
    Jump up^ War on terrorism skipped the KLA National Post, 13 November 2001, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG)
    Jump up^ Kurop, Marcia Christoff (1 November 2001). "Al Qaeda's Balkan Links". The Wall Street Journal Europe.
    Jump up^ Reveron, p. 82 (footnote 24 from page 69)
    Jump up^ "Terrorist Organization Profile: Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)". National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
    Jump up^ Maggie O'Kane (13 March 2000). "Kosovo drug mafia supply heroin to Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
    Jump up^ Ruppert, Michael C. (2004). Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil. New Society Publishers.ISBN 978-1-55092-318-6.
    Jump up^ Statement of Ralf Mutschke, Assistant Director, Criminal Intelligence Directorate, Interpol, before the Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime on 13 December 2000 entitled ‘The threat posed by the convergence of organized crime, drugs trafficking and terrorism’.
    Jump up^ "Kosovo: Approve Special Court for Serious Abuses". hrw.org.
    Jump up^ "Kosovo: Approval of Special Court Key Step for Justice". hrw.org..
    Jump up^ "EU to set up international tribunal for Kosovo crimes in 2015". RAPSI. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
    Bibliography[edit]
    Reveron, Derek S., Jeffrey Stevenson Murer (2006). CRC Press, ed. Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism (illustrated ed.). CRC Press.ISBN 0-415-95491-6.
    General references[edit]
    "KLA Action Fuelled NATO Victory", Jane's Defence Weekly, 16 June 1999
    "The KLA: Braced to Defend and Control", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 April 1999
    "Kosovo's Ceasefire Crumbles As Serb Military Retaliates", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 February 1999
    "Another Balkan Bloodbath? Part Two", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 March 1998
    "Albanians Attack Serb Targets", Jane's Defence Weekly, 4 September 1996
    "The Kosovo Liberation Army and the Future of Kosovo", James H. Anderson and James Phillips, 13 May 1999, Heritage Foundation, Heritage Foundation (Washington, USA)
    "Kosovo 'freedom fighters' financed by organized crime", Michel Chossudovsky, 19 April 1999, wsws.org
    External links[edit]
    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kosovo Liberation Army.

    The KLA: braced to defend and control at the Wayback Machine (archived March 1, 2000)Jane's Information Group
    Kosovo's Army in Waiting Time magazine
    Intelligence Resources page on KLA Federation of American Scientists
    KLA-NATO Demilitarisation and transformation agreement.
    IISS: "The Kosovo Liberation Army" – Volume 4, Issue 7 – August 1998
    Kosova Press Ex-KLA News Agency, now close to the Democratic Party of Kosovo
    Government of Serbia (2003): White Book on KLA (Part 1, Part 2)
    Michael Montgomery (10 April 2009). "Horrors of KLA prison camps revealed". BBC News. Retrieved 14 April 2009.

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War on terrorism skipped the KLA - Global Research
www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BIS111A.html
U.S. President George W. Bush has made it clear the war against terrorists will ... from their ancestral homes in Kosovo by the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army.

Syrian opposition studies terror tactics in Kosovo — RT News
https://www.rt.com/.../syrian-opposition-studies-terror-tactics-in-koso...
May 4, 2012 - The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was considered a terroristorganization by the US, the UK and France for years until, in 1998, it was taken off ...

[PDF]NATO and the KLA: How the West Encouraged Terrorism
globalsecuritystudies.com/NATO%20and%20the%20KLA%20TWO.pdf
by JR Fulton - ‎Cited by 1 - ‎Related articles
Kosovo Liberation Army. The result of this open for support for the KLA has helped to encourage ethnic Albanian separatists to use terrorism to start insurgencies ...

U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
fas.org/irp/world/para/.../fr033199.htm
Federation of American Scientists
The Kosovo Liberation Army: Does Clinton Policy Support Group with Terror, Drug Ties? From 'Terrorists' to 'Partners'. On March 24, 1999, NATO initiated air ...

Kosovo Liberation Army


www.kosovo.net/kla2.html
Albanian Muslim terrorists destroyed more than 100 of churches in post-war Kosovo
Terrorists inspired by jihad ideas attack the heart of the United States
TWO FACES OF THE SAME EVIL

INDEPENDENT (UK)- BIN LADEN LINKED TO ALBANIAN DRUG GANGS
October 21, 2001
BIN LADEN SUPPLIED KLA DURING THE KOSOVO WAR
Interpol believes that Osama bin Laden is linked to Albanian gangs who have taken over a growing web of crime across Europe. The investigations into organised crime links with his terrorist network also show that Mr bin Laden supplied one of his top military commanders for an elite KLA unit during the Kosovo conflict. ... Albanian heroin and gun trafficking gangs mushroomed during the Kosovo war and are becoming more powerful. They have taken control of 70 per cent of the heroin market in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries.

KLA - ISLAMIC LINKS
OVERVIEW - KLA Islamic LinksThe Times, US Alarmed as Mujahidins Join Kosovo Rebels, Nov 26, 1998
The Scotsman, US Tackles Islamic Militancy in Kosovo, Nov 30, 1998AP, Bin Laden Operated Terrorist Network Based in Albania, Nov 29, 1998
Jerusalem Post, Kosovo Seen as New Islamic Bastion, Sep 14, 1998Sunday Times, Bin Laden Opens a New Terrorist Base in Albania, Nov 29, 1998
Sunday Times, Iranians Move in (Kosovo Link), Mar 22, 1998
Saudi Arabians in Post-war Kosovo - Osama Bin Laden or not?
Reuters, Security Fears in Kosovo, NATO Raids Saudi House, April 3, 2000
Charisma Magazine, Kosovo Christians Targeted by Islamic Militants, May 18, 2000

Islamic Circles in UK and the Fund Raising for Arms in Kosovo
Sunday Telegraph UK, KLA Raises Money in Britain For Arms, Apr 23, 2000
ISLAMIC MILLITANCY IN KLA/UCK - YES OR NO

Exclusive news - WTC attackers might have links with Albanian terrorists
HIJACKERS CONNECTED TO ALBANIAN TERRORIST CELL
September 18, 2001
Quotation from the article:
"Islamic radicals, including supporters of bin Laden, have been supporting Albanian rebels fighting in the region, including members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Intelligence officials have said there are reports that KLA members have been TRAINED at bin Laden training camps in Afghanistan".

Kosovo Liberation Army [KLA / UCK] - GlobalSecurity.org
www.globalsecurity.org › ... › World › Para-military Groups › Europe
Nov 7, 2011 - After these bombings, Serb authorities named it a terrorist organization. Since 1997 the Kosovo Liberation Army has conducted attacks on ...
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