Hello and Welcome
to Week in Review for March 11, 2005 from the studios of UN Radio in Kosovo….
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Kosovo’s acting
Prime Minister is sent to The Hague for war crimes this week
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The Kosovo
Trust Agency awards workers 1.6 million euros
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And…Macedonia
prepares for municipal elections this weekend
1 Dominating this week’s news…
Kosovo’s Prime
Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, was charged with war crimes on Tuesday by the UN
Tribunal at The Hague – sending a shock through Kosovo’s interim government.
His indictment comes less than three months before a UN Security Council
meeting is due to discuss potential moves towards status discussions later in
the year.
The charges stem
from the period when Haradinaj was a senior commander for the Dukagjin arm of
the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998- 1999 Conflict. He was charged with 17
counts of crimes against humanity and 20 counts of violations of the laws or
customs of war.
Also named in the
indictment were two former KLA fighters – Idriz Balaj, who was a commander of a
special unit called the “Black Eagles” and Lahi Brahimaj, a relative of
Haradinaj’s who served under him in Western Kosovo. Kosovo Serbs, Roma and
so-called Albanian collaborators were all apparent targets of the three accused.
According to a Reuters report, rape charges against all three men relate to an
alleged assault of a Roma woman by Balaj.
Rumors of Haradinaj’s indictment by The Hague had been circulating after
UN war crimes investigators questioned him shortly after assuming office last
December.
Peaceful
Demonstrations occurred throughout Kosovo over the last three days, primarily
centered in the west where support for Haradinaj is most active. As many as 500
British peacekeepers arrived in Kosovo on Monday bolstering the security
presence of Kosovo Protection forces blamed for being unable to stop ethnic
riots last March that left 19 people dead, both Serbs and Albanians.
Western leaders praised Haradinaj for surrendering voluntarily to
authorities on Tuesday. He is expected to appear in court next week to enter
pleas for the charges against him. He could face life imprisonment if convicted
of any charges related to his war activities.
2 In local economic news…
The Kosovo Trust Agency allocated some 1.6 million euros to the workers of seven privatised companies on Thursday. The KTA is the agency responsible for privatisation in Kosovo. Based on KTA regulations, workers associated with ex socially owned enterprises are entitled to receive 20 % of the proceeds from the sale of these businesses. The money is then transferred to the account of the united trade union – who will then disburse the money to individual workers. A special Chamber of the supreme court which deals with privatisation issues has confirmed a list of around 10.000 workers from privately owned SOE’s who are eligible to receive the money. It is the largest amount awarded Kosovo workers since the start of the privatisation process more than three years ago.
3 And in other ICTY related news…
Croatia’s failure to hand over of a top war crimes suspect this week appears to be the major obstacle in talks with the European Union on future integrations into the economic bloc. According to international media sources, EU countries have failed to agree on whether to start entry talks with Croatia, which has not yet handed over former Croatian army General, Ante Gotovina, accused of ordering the killing of more than 100 ethnic Serbs and expelling 150,000 more during an offensive in 1995 to recapture Croatian lands seized by Serb forces.
4 And finally…
Macedonia’s first
elections under a new decentralized municipal system are set to take place this
Sunday. The March13 elections are part of
a plan for local government reform laid out by the Ohrid peace agreement, which
ended a conflict between Macedonian security forces and its ethnic Albanian
minority in 2001. Ethnic Albanians stand to gain more power as a new map
of the country based on ethnic composition means that they have a chance of
winning power in 16 municipalities out of a total of a total of 84. A
successful voting process should strengthen Macedonia's position as it strives
to enter the EU.
This concludes this edition of Week in Review. Stay tuned to this channel every week at this time for UN Radio’s weekly wrap-up of news in and around Kosovo.