Group tied to al-Qaida backs McCain for president

ELECTION 2008
Group tied to al-Qaida backs McCain for prez
‘They will do all they can to turn Kosovo into a jihadist camp in the heart of Europe’

From right to left: Arslan Cekaj, Agim Alickaj, Senator John McCain, Joe DioGuardi, Zef Balaj, Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, Fedor Miroshnichenko, and Andre Alishentsev

http://www.aacl.com/email_blast/John_McCain.htm
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has enjoyed strong support from a lobbyist group that backs the Kosovo Liberation Army despite allegations the KLA is a Muslim terrorist group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida.

The Albanian American Civic League, or AACL, regards the KLA as “freedom fighters,” said the AACL’s president, former Republican congressman Joe DioGuardi of New York.

They’re “not terrorist, like the Serbs and Greeks say,” DioGuardi insisted in an interview with WND.

But Islam expert Robert Spencer, editor of the popular website Jihad Watch, contends radical Islam is the driving force behind the Kosovo independence movement.

“There is no excusing the excesses of the Serbs under (former President Slobodan) Milosevic, but there is no denying also that jihadists have been pouring into Bosnia and Kosovo, preparing to use them as a base for jihad activity in Europe – and we have been helping them,” Spencer told WND.

Spencer explained that the KLA is directly linked to the Kosovo independence movement.

“When Kosovo independence was declared, thousands of Kosovars gathered in Pristina and chanted, ‘KLA!’ ‘KLA!’ Spencer noted. “This was a telling indication of the broad popular support the KLA enjoys.”

KLA members, however, continued Spencer, were trained in al-Qaida camps.

“There is little doubt that there are powerful elements in Kosovo who are Islamic supremacist and pro-Sharia (Islamic law),” he said. “They will do all they can to turn Kosovo into a jihadist camp in the heart of Europe.”

Spencer pointed out Kosovo is about 90 percent Muslim, and the independence movement has grown by incorporating Albanian Muslims as members and supporters.

“Most of the Albanian Muslims are cultural Muslims who have not been radicalized,” he added. “However, the Muslims in the Balkans have been subjected to heavy jihadists infiltration and recruitment for almost two decades now.”

Spencer contends McCain, along with the Bush administration, which has recognized Kosovo’s independence, “are on the wrong side of the fight … just as American policy in general has been on the wrong side of the Balkans conflict for years.”

During the Balkans war in the 1990s, President Clinton committed U.S. troops to fight under NATO command, providing U.S. air support for NATO-directed attacks against the Serbs.

Today, President Bush’s and Sen. McCain’s support for Kosovo is equally clear.

On Feb. 17, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the U.S. formally recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independent state, saying, “As Kosovo today begins its life as an independent state, the United States pledges to be its close friend and partner.”

McCain, in a written statement prepared for the Munich Security Conference Feb. 7, called on the U.S. and the European Union to recognize Kosovo’s independence, saying, “For the first time the region is today poised to move forward, with final status for Kosovo and transitioning continuing responsibilities there to increasing European control – at long last closing the door on the region’s painful past.”

In April 1999, McCain and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., co-sponsored the “Kosovo Self-Defense Act” with the goal of arming the KLA in their battle against the Serbs.

McCain co-sponsored the legislation despite serious concerns voiced at that time in Republican policy forums, warning the KLA was a criminal terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee issued a white paper March 31, 1999, concluding the KLA was closely associated with

http://wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57678 

Dieser Eintrag wurde am 27.8.2008 um 23:14 verfasst und befindet sich in Welt News Spezial, Balkan (Englisch). Sie können alle Antworten zu diesem Eintrag über den Feed RSS 2.0 mitverfolgen. Hinterlassen Sie eine Antwort oder einen Trackback-Link zu Ihrer eigenen Homepage.