[Marxism] Ramush Haradinaj: Kosovo 'Prime Minister' With Blood On His Hands

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,333088,00.html


Der Spiegel
December 13, 2004


A Prime Minister with a Kalashnikov
By Renate Flottau


-A decision on Haradinaj's indictment will probably be
made in the very near future, but the tribunal's
investigation will likely play a lesser role than
anticipated. As it turns out, the Americans are
interested in Haradinaj acting as their partner at the
status negotiations for Kosovo....
-[Haradinaj] has been one of the US government's
closest allies ever since the NATO bombardment of
Yugoslavia.
In fact, he was already the White House's top pick as
the new leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians a few
months after the war ended. The US government wanted
Haradinaj to replace former fellow KLA fighter Hashim
Thaci as the international negotiating partner in
Kosovo after Thaci was discredited for his shady past.



Former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Ramush
Haradinaj stands accused of murdering 67 Serbs and
ordering the deaths of 267 others. No matter: he
became prime minster of Kosovo two weeks ago. But his
reign, it seems, may be a short one. The war crimes
tribunal in The Hague, and the Serbs, are on his tail.

He's a man who made a name for himself with his
hand-to-hand combat skills and his ability to handle a
Kalashnikov rifle. He was famous among his supporters
as a tough-as-nails rebel commander during the war in
the southern Serbian countryside.

But then the Kosovo international peacekeeping force,
KFOR, took over in 1999. Ramush Haradinaj, commander
of the KLA until then, quickly shed his guerilla
image, traded in his fatigues for tailored suits and
designer ties, founded his own political party and,
sitting comfortably in a heavy, dark green leather
chair, announced: "I will be the president or prime
minister of Kosovo, because I represent hope and the
future of my people."

Haradinaj's second coming became reality on December
3, when the 36-year-old ethnic Albanian became prime
minister of the troubled province. His Alliance for
the Future of Kosovo, which emerged from the October
elections as the third-largest party in Kosovo's
parliament [receiving only 8% of the vote], entered
into a ruling coalition with the Democratic League -
the party of Kosovan President Ibrahim Rugova.

Kosovo fueding political parties

According to the local rumor mill, one of Rugova's
strongest reasons for entering into this alliance had
to do with security. It's an unlikely coalition,
especially when one considers Rugova's strained
relationship with Haradinaj. Since the war in Kosovo
ended, more than 70 murders are said to have been
committed in three of the province's regions, Decani,
Klina and Pec, and each of these cases has been linked
to a political blood feud between the two camps; the
majority of the victims were members of either
Haradinaj's or Rugova's party. In 2002, a court
sentenced Haradinaj's brother, Daut, to five years in
prison for his alleged role in the murders of four
ethnic Albanians considered to be supporters of
Rugova.

But the bloody-hands reputation of the new Kosovan
head of state, once a volunteer with the Yugoslav
People's Army, isn't limited to the power of his fists
and his occasional threats to strip his opponents
naked, tie them to stakes and carry them through the
streets of Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

The war crimes tribunal in The Hague has been
investigating war crimes allegedly committed by the
KLA for some time now. In November, Haradinaj, called
the "Fist of God" by his followers during the war,
spent two days testifying before the tribunal's
investigators in Pristina. Haradinaj, it turned out,
was himself the subject of an investigation into war
crimes he allegedly committed in 1998 and 1999.

Prime minister with blood on his hands

Belgrade, in particular, claims to have uncovered
incriminating evidence against Haradinaj. According to
media reports in the Serbian capital, Kosovo's new
prime minister killed 67 Serbs himself and, as
commander of the KLA in the Decani region, ordered the
extermination of another 267 victims. The government
in Belgrade is outraged and, in light of Haradinaj's
appointment to the office of prime minister, has
threatened to boycott future talks with Pristina.

The United Nations administration isn't impressed. The
head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Soeren
Jessen-Petersen, rejected the Serbian government's
demand for Haradinaj's removal from office. Haradinaj,
says Jessen-Petersen, was voted into office
"legitimately and democratically."

A mildly irritated Javier Solana, the European Union's
High Representative for the Common Foreign and
Security Policy, has complained about an "inconvenient
person" who is unnecessarily complicating the
situation. But Haradinaj can be assured of the UN
administration's goodwill as long as he continues to
express his support for a future decentralization of
Kosovo to benefit its remaining Serb population and to
strive for "good neighborly relations" with Belgrade
by guaranteeing a multi-ethnic society. The UN
administration has also been tolerant of Haradinaj's
promises of independence for Kosovo by 2006, as well
as of his appointment of former communists as his
advisors.

Nonetheless, many believe that the new prime
minister's term in office could end up being shorter
than his former career as a rebel fighter. The German
ambassador to Serbia, Kurt Leonberger, has already
warned that Haradinaj will be expected to "surrender
voluntarily, notwithstanding his position as prime
minister, the minute he is indicted by the Hague
tribunal."

The US backs Haradinaj

A decision on Haradinaj's indictment will probably be
made in the very near future, but the tribunal's
investigation will likely play a lesser role than
anticipated. As it turns out, the Americans are
interested in Haradinaj acting as their partner at the
status negotiations for Kosovo planned for next year,
and he won't do them much good behind bars. Washington
hopes that Haradinaj's former role in the militant
wing of the KLA will give him enough credibility to
convince his fellow Kosovans of the need for
unpleasant compromises.

Besides, the ethnic Albanian, who, as the eldest of
seven children, emigrated to Switzerland at the age of
21, where he first worked as a gymnastics coach and
nightclub bouncer before joining the KLA as a weapons
buyer, has been one of the US government's closest
allies ever since the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia.

In fact, he was already the White House's top pick as
the new leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians a few
months after the war ended. The US government wanted
Haradinaj to replace former fellow KLA fighter Hashim
Thaci as the international negotiating partner in
Kosovo after Thaci was discredited for his shady past.

Before this could occur, however, the "Fist of God"
struck once again. In May 2000, he got into a fight
with Russian KFOR troops. A short time later,
Haradinaj was severely injured in a gun battle with
ethnic Serbs, and was flown to the US military
hospital in Landshut, Germany.

Haradinaj apparently emerged from the incident as bold
as ever. Last week he announced that he has no qualms
about visiting Belgrade. The Serbs were quick to issue
a comeback: Haradinaj would be more than welcome in
their capital. In fact, they've already issued a
warrant for his arrest.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan




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