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Kosovo Liberation Army

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Kosovo Liberation Army
Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës
LeadersLKCK
Zahir Pajaziti  †
Adem Jashari  †
Agim Çeku
Fatmir Limaj
Ramush Haradinaj
Bekim Berisha  †
Rrustem "Remi" Mustafa
Agim Ramadani  †
Dates of operation1996 – 1999 (formed in 1990 but relatively passive until 1996)
Active regionsKosovo, FR Yugoslavia
AlliesAlbania, NATO
OpponentsYugoslavia
Battles and warsKosovo War:
Kosovo War
Prelude

Wartime events

Aftermath

Aspects

The Kosovo Liberation Army (abbreviated KLA; Template:Lang-sq— Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) was an ethnic-Albanian 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 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. Later the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) legally found that Serbia "use 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 of Kosovo Albanian civilians from their homes, as well as incidents of killings, sexual assault, and the intentional destruction of mosques."

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. Some of the Kosovo Liberation Army leadership opted to enter politics leading key government positions at times.

History

First attacks

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. 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.

According to Roland Keith, a field office director of the OSCE's Kosovo Verification Mission:

Upon my arrival the war increasingly evolved into a mid intensity conflict as ambushes, the encroachment of critical lines of communication and the kidnapping of security forces resulted in a significant increase in government casualties which in turn led to major Yugoslavian reprisal security operations... By the beginning of March these terror and counter-terror operations led to the inhabitants of numerous villages fleeing, or being dispersed to either other villages, cities or the hills to seek refuge... The situation was clearly that KLA provocations, as personally witnessed in ambushes of security patrols which inflicted fatal and other casualties, were clear violations of the previous October's agreement .

Foreign volunteers

The KLA included in its ranks foreign volunteers from Italy, the UK, Germany, Albania, and the US and France. 30–40 Volunteers from the Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association also participated in training KLA troops.

The KLA usually rewarded its international volunteers after service with passage home, as a gesture of thanks.

Aftermath (post-1999)

UÇK monument in Deçan

After the war, the KLA was transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, which worked alongside NATO forces patrolling the province. 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. The acronym was the same as KLA's in Albanian.

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.

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, 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.

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.

Foreign support

Members of the Kosovo Liberation Army turn over their weapons to U.S. Marines

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." 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.

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 British Special 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 ..." According to Tim Judah, KLA representatives had already met with American, British, and Swiss intelligence agencies in 1996, and possibly "several years earlier" 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". 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. 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." 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."

Reported abuses

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. 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.

Weapons confiscated from the KLA, July 1999

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. According to Human Rights Watch, as “many as one thousand Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing since June 12, 1999.”

In early 2011 the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs viewed a report by Dick Marty on the alleged criminal activities and alleged 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. Investigations are still being done.

Kosovo Liberation Army members were sentenced for murdering 32 non-Albanian civilians. In the same case, another 35 civilians are missing while 153 were tortured and released.

Freedom Fighters

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.

See also

References

  1. Albanian Terrorism and Oraganized Crime in Kosovo and Metohija (K&M). White paper published by the Serbian government, September 2003. wordpress.com
  2. DCI Statement: Current and Projected National Security Threats – Central Intelligence Agency. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
  3. "Kosovo one year on". BBC News. 16 March 2000. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  4. Kosovo. CIA – The World Factbook. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
  5. Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism & the Balkan Wars. Cornell University Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-8014-4158-7.
  6. UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 4. March–June 1999: An Overview. Hrw.org. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
  7. 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.
  8. "Five Senior Serb Officials Convicted of Kosovo Crimes, One Acquitted". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  9. Perritt, Henry H. (2008). Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09213-8.
  10. "Unknown Albanian 'liberation army' claims attacks", Agence France Presse, 17 February 1996
  11. "Failure of Diplomacy, Returning OSCE Human Rights Monitor Offers A View From the Ground in Kosovo", The Democrat, May 1999, Roland Keith
  12. IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting. Iwpr.net (11 November 2001). Retrieved on 29 June 2014.
  13. IN THE HOUSE OF KLA RECRUITS – AIM Tirena, April 19, 1999. Aimpress.ch. Retrieved on 14 March 2013.
  14. History of Foreign Volunteers in the Balkan Wars and Conflicts – Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association
  15. News – Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association
  16. Cite error: The named reference cfr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Pål Kolstø (2009). Media Discourse and the Yugoslav Conflicts: Representations of Self and Other. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 173. ISBN 0754676293.
  18. "Kosovo ex-PM war charges revealed". BBC News. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  19. Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. trial-ch.org
  20. Archived 2006-05-07 at the Wayback Machine. The Hague, 21 April 2006 – Appeals Chamber
  21. Fallgot, Roger (1998): "How Germany Backed KLA", in The European, 21 – 27 September. pp. 21–27.
  22. 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.
  23. Bissett, James (31 July 2001) Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star
  24. Judah, Tim (2002): Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University Press. New Haven, USA. p. 120 ISBN 0300097255
  25. " CIA aided Kosovo guerrilla army" by Tom Walker and Aidan Laverty. THE SUNDAY TIMES, London, UK 12 March 2000
  26. Congress (1999). Congressional Record. Government Printing Office. p. 7743. ISBN 9780160730078. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  27. 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.
  28. The New American (24 September 2001). "Rohrabacher Shills for the KLA". The New American. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  29. The New American (24 September 2001). "Rohrabacher Shills for the KLA". American Opinion Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  30. Human Rights Watch, UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo. hrw.org (2001)
  31. ^ UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo. executive summary. hrw.org (2001)
  32. Cite error: The named reference ZAT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. Politician angers MEPs over Kosovo organ harvesting claim (The Irish Times)
  34. 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.
  35. Reveron, p. 68

Bibliography

General references

  • "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)

External links

Albanian separatist organizations
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