CONTENTS
UNMIK POLICE SAYS RAMUSH HARADINAJ IS UNDER INVESTIGATION
PDK
CALLS ON ALL POLITICAL PARTIES FOR A MEETING ON MONDAY
BILDT: NON-DEFINITION
OF KOSOVO’S FINAL STATUS IS ONE OF THE OPEN ISSUES IN THE BALKANS
VLLASI:
REVENGE AGAINST INNOCENT SERBS CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED
THREE ROMAS WOUNDED
DURING GRENADE ATTACK IN NORTHERN MITROVICA
UNMIK POLICE SAYS RAMUSH HARADINAJ IS UNDER
INVESTIGATION
The walls of the house of the Musa family from Strellc were riddled with bullets, which hit the windows and everything else in the front-yard on Thursday night/Friday morning. According to members of the Musa family, their house was attacked at around 1.30 a.m. on Friday. Ramush Haradinaj, the chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), and his brother Daut Haradinaj, commander of the Third KPC Zone, were wounded during the fighting under yet-to-be explained circumstances, noted Koha Ditore on pages one and two. The report also carried two photos showing Ramë Musa, and one of his sons, Ismet Musa, recently released from prison, standing in the doorstep of their house, the walls of which are riddled with bullets.
According to information provided by AAK, its chairman was attacked on the road to his house while he was passing through the village of Strellc. It was said that his vehicle was shot at and grenades were thrown in its direction. An investigator from the international police who went at the site said that Haradinaj’s vehicle was not damaged, therefore, he said, “I don’t understand how he could have been wounded from a grenade thrown at his vehicle while passing through this road.”
On Saturday, the four Musa brothers were sitting in the front-yard of their house while KFOR soldiers and international police officers stood on both sides of the yard. Sadik Musa, told the paper that Ramush Haradinaj and his brother Daut entered the yard of their house on Friday at around 1.30 a.m. along with 30 other men. “We were sleeping. Only one of our brothers was watching television,” said Sadik Musa.
Describing the whole incident, which was explained differently by Harandinaj’s party in Gjakova, Sadik added, “I came out from the backdoor and saw Ramush in the yard together with his men. One of them had a grenade in his hand and pulled out the pin. I got hold of his hand along with the bomb and managed to take it away from him. At that moment they started shooting at me while I reached the main gate and threw back the grenade meant for my family”.
Commenting on the issue, Agim Koci, AAK chairman in Gjakova, was quoted as saying, "Mr. Haradinaj was at a reception being held for the departure of the regional administrator of Dukagjin. The reception started at eight o’clock and from there he left for his house in Gllogjan. When he arrived in Strellc he was attacked by Sadik Musa.”
In a press release issued by the AAK it was noted, “Following a busy day, the AAK chairman Ramush Haradinaj … after meetings with leaders and sympathizers of the AAK in the town of Peja, which went on until 24.00 hours, Ramush Haradinaj, accompanied by Daut Haradinaj and his followers, were attacked with guns and explosives in the village of Strellc on the road to Peja. During this murder attempt, Ramush Haradinaj and his brother Daut were wounded.”
At the site, an investigator from the international police claimed that Ramush Haradinaj’s vehicle was not damaged but refused to make any further comment on the incident.
On the other hand, Sadik Musa talked about out a quarrel that began earlier. According to Sadik, one of his brothers, Sinan Musa, went missing on 24 July of last year immediately after the deployment of NATO troops in Kosovo. Based on statements by family members, Sinan Musa went missing along with five other young men. “My brother and his friends were Bukoshi’s soldiers,” said Sadik adding that Vesel Murriqi was one of the kidnapped young men who managed to escape.
According to the members of his family, Vesel Murriqi is currently out of Kosovo. Neither KFOR nor UNMIK Police would comment on the missing persons even though, according to the Musa and Murriqi families, Vesel gave statements to these bodies. The Musa family claims that Ramush Haradinaj and several former KLA soldiers are responsible for the kidnapping.
Sadik Musa stressed that both UNMIK Police and KFOR had been informed of the kidnapping, while his father, Ramë Musa, told the paper that he, along with several other older men, went to see Ramush Haradinaj on Tuesday, “to ask him to help us find Sinan,” he said. Only two days later, the armed fight, during which Ramush was wounded, took place, added the paper.
Sadik Musa, who threw back the bomb which wounded the Haradinaj brothers, said that more could have been wounded, “but after this,” he said, “we couldn’t see anything because they started firing at us continuously and we fired back”.
Agim Koci, the AAK chairman in Gjakova, told the paper that “after this attack, the members of the Musa family will be afraid of a revenge attack, since Ramush’s brother, Daut, is the commander of KPC Third Zone”.
Assessing the incident as an attack against the legendary leaders of the war, one of the AAK leaders, Bajram Kosumi, was reported to have said, “Serbia manoeuvres in Kosovo through secret services and Albanians are not capable of responding adequately under these circumstances.”
According to the KFOR report, on Saturday Ramush Haradinaj was under medical treatment by US KFOR doctors, at camp Bondsteel’s medical unit. “There is no other information regarding the circumstances under which he was wounded. KFOR special units and UNMIK Police are closely investigating the incident,” KFOR’s statement said.
Reporting on the incident, foreign news agencies said that it could have repercussions throughout Kosovo. Associated Press‘s report on Saturday stated: “A former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army was wounded on Friday during an armed conflict with political rivals.” AP referred to sources within the AAK, but it also quoted anonymous UN officials who opposed the version of Haradinaj’s party. The same officials refused to give their own version, since the case is being investigated by UNMIK Police.
AP also carried the statement of Sadik Musa who claimed that Haradinaj and his followers attacked his house at around 1.30 a.m. with machine guns. Sadik also told the news agency that he was attacked because they were supporting Haradinaj’s rivals in the Democratic League of Kosovo, led by Ibrahim Rugova. However, AP added that this explanation might not be true, and that the disappearance of one of the sons of the Musa family could have caused the incident.
Referring to statements by UNMIK Police, the French agency AFP reported on Saturday that Ramush Haradinaj participated in an attack on an Albanian house in Deçan. Larry Guyton, police spokesman, told AFP that Haradinaj was questioned on Saturday in the US camp Bondsteel. Guyton said an Albanian accused Haradinaj of participating in an attack against his house in Deçan, and added that Ramush Haradinaj would also have the opportunity to give his own version of the incident to UNMIK Police.
In closing, the paper said that according to UNMIK Police reports, an AK-47 as well the ID of a KPC member were found at the site where the attack was reported to have taken place.
PDK CALLS ON ALL POLITICAL PARTIES FOR A MEETING ON MONDAY
Referring to the statement by Jakup Krasniqi, the spokesman of the Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK), Kosova Sot on page one reported that improvement has been reached in talks between PDK chairman Hashim Thaçi and the chief administrator Bernard Kouchner. Krasniqi did not focus on details of the talks between Thaçi and Kouchner, but expressed hope that the seven demands put forward by the party will be respected enough for a compromise to be reached.
According to the paper, PDK has called on all political parties in Kosovo to meet on Monday, when they would discuss the agreement signed between Kouchner and Bishop Artemije on the regulation for local administration as well as other current political and economic issues. A few days ago, Rexhep Qosja, the chairman of the United Democratic Movement (LBD), had proposed a meeting of all political bodies.
In addition, it was reported that meetings between UNMIK officials and PDK leaders would continue, while the regulation for governance in municipalities is expected to be approved on Tuesday.
It is also expected that the Monday meeting will discuss the boycott in certain cases as a form of pressure against decisions made by SRSG Kouchner. “Let us recall that Qosja stated that one party cannot do anything, therefore, from this statement it can be seen that there will be a move towards harmonization in the future, when important issues for Kosovo’s interests are at stake,” concluded the paper.
BILDT: NON-DEFINITION OF KOSOVO’S FINAL STATUS IS ONE OF THE OPEN ISSUES IN THE BALKANS
Karl Bildt, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Balkans, has emphasized that Milosevic's remaining in power, the non-definition of Kosovo's final status, in order to overcome open issues in the Balkans and disagreements between super powers, present a handicap for solving open issues in the Balkans, reported Kosova Sot on page two.
According to Bildt, the enormous efforts by the international community in Kosovo are focused on building, self-administering and securing substantial autonomy for Kosovo. "Unfortunately, these efforts coincide with repression of minorities in Kosovo, especially Serbs. Even though they condemn this violence, the leadership of Kosovar Albanians does not seem willing to do anything more. In the long-term plan, there is no other way except to establish law and order," noted Bildt.
VLLASI: REVENGE AGAINST INNOCENT SERBS CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED
Azem Vllasi, a lawyer from Prishtina and former renowned Kosovar politician, said that unjustified revenge against innocent and powerless Serbs rules in Kosovo, reported Koha Ditore on page three referring to a statement that Vllasi gave to the Croatian weekly “Feral Tribune”.
Vllasi was also reported to have said that only a year after the war in Kosovo there are still irrational tensions, frustrations and nationalistic demagogy which have included a large number of Kosovar intellectuals, while others have bowed their heads and do not dare to speak openly. “People don’t agree with what they see around them, they would want to live in another environment and the majority is fed up with chaos and violence. If not for something else, they can see that with what is happening now we are losing the respect of the foreigners and the international community,” Vllasi added.
The Prishtina lawyer told the paper that a lot of good things could be seen if you look at Tito’s time from today’s Kosovar perspective. “I see tolerance and national equality and the efficient instruments of defending it. At that time, the incitement of hatred between people with different ethnic backgrounds was not allowed. In fact, when I remember the time of 20 years ago, I notice a lot of what the west is today recommending to us as a normal and civilized future,” concluded Azem Vllasi.
THREE ROMAS WOUNDED DURING GRENADE ATTACK IN NORTHERN MITROVICA
On Friday, at around 23.00 hours, four grenades were thrown at the Roma camp, in northern Mitrovica, according to Charles Conner, UNMIK Police spokesman, reported Koha Ditore on page three.
Conner added that several persons were wounded during the incident, while three Roma were severely wounded and are currently under medical care in the hospital in the northern part of the town. Premonvill, spokesman for Multinational Brigade North, also confirmed the grenade attack, and added that 13 persons were wounded during the incident.