History of the Balkans: Under NATO bombs Albanians are leaving Kosovo, March - May 1999

This page originates from:

The articles collected by: Mr. Benjamin Crocker Works, Director
SIRIUS: The Strategic Issues Research Institute
www.siri-us.com
E-mail: BenWorks@aol.Com
The original page is at: Sirius Kosovo Archive ***

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ARCHIVE: Under NATO bombs Albanians are leaving Kosovo,
March - May 1999

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Monday, May 31, 1999Note: This file, intended for research purposes, contains copyrighted articles included “for fair use only.”Contents:

1. Foreign Affairs, May 1999; Chris Hedges, “Kosovo’s Next Masters?”
2. KHOU-TV, Houston, April 22, 1999; Hatchett Interview with Milosevic –Excerpt
3. UPI, April 30, 1999; DeBorchgrave Interview with Milosevic –Excerpt
4. NY Times, May 5, 1999; Kosovo’s Ravaged Capital Staggers Back to Half Life
5. NY Times, May 9, 1999; An Albanian Family in Kosovo Struggles On Among the Serbs
6. NY Times, May 12, 1999; In One Kosovo Woman, an Emblem of Suffering
7. LA Times, May 17, 1999; In One Village, Albanian Men Are Everywhere
8. The Times, (London) May 18, 1999; Berisha scorns ‘incompetent’ KLA guerrillas
9. LA Times, May 20, 1999; Serbian Nuns With Guns Put Most of Their Faith in a Higher Power
10. AP’ May 22, 1999; Kosovars Are Refugees in Own Land
11. London Review of Books, May 27, 1999; KOSOVO: What’s the Story?
12. UPI, May 23, 1999; More Kosovar men sent across border
13. The Sunday Times, May 16, 1999; Mafia smuggles refugee women into sex slavery
14. NY Post, May 30, 1999; Maggie O’Kane: An Ethnic Cleanser Confesses

Introduction:

The articles in this file are from the mouth of Slobodan Milosevic, from Steven Erlanger of the New York Times, Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times and from others. Chris Hedges begins, confirming the internationally recognized terrorist nature of the KLA in early 1998, when the police attacked the Jashari clan at Prekaz, precipitating the subsequent civil war or insurrection –depending on your view. Erlanger and Watson both filed stories during trips into the heart of Kosovo in mid-May, from the midst of the NATO bombing campaign. Maggie O’Kane tracked down a Serb “cleaner” in Belgrade after the event.

(Complete texts of the two Milosevic interviews, his June 28, 1989 speech at Kosovo Polje and other articles documenting his character may be found in another archive, “Kosovo-Milosevic.html,” at the website.)

Mr. Milosevic’s words need parsing, just as Mr. Clinton’s do. The Serb claims not to have acted against Albanian “citizens” since the NATO bombing began, but it appears from the May 30th NY Post interview of Milan Petrovic, that there was a concerted effort to chase illegal immigrants –tens of thousands who moved in from Albania and elsewhere since 1945– out of Kosovo. Suspected KLA supporters were also deliberately arrested and/or harassed. The war crimes tribunal will view these actions as crimes against humanity, while Belgrade will assert a right to evict illegal immigrants and to suppress an armed insurrection by internationally acknowledged terrorists. In Yugoslavia’s view, ejecting rebels and illegals is little different than Fidel Castro’s Mariveles boat lift during the Carter Administration; and as we know, Castro was never indicted for “crimes against humanity.”

Mr. Milosevic, in a TV interview, plus one with Arnaud De Borchgrave of UPI, confirmed that “citizens” had not been targeted and that many Serbs who committed violent crimes against Albanians had been jailed. Erlanger and O’Kane confirm that Serbs who committed murder, rape, arson and robbery had, indeed been jailed. But this is not the entire story, which awaits resolution of the crisis and left the door open for the ICTY indictment.

It is clear that, though many nasty things occurred in Kosovo in the aftermath of the NATO bombing campaign’s onset, it is not to the magnitude of genocide repeatedly alleged by NATO propagandists. Retail or wholesale; systematic or spontaneous? Maybe a bit of both, as is usual in extreme moments in crises –people are pushed beyond their limits. Belgrade asserts that it is punishing its criminals and that over 350 perpetrators have been sentenced to jail terms as long as 20 years for their excesses as Erlanger reports, but the ICTY intends to prosecute these as systematic crimes against humanity and war crimes.

There were two overlapping groups that were the focus of Serb actions after NATO’s bombing started; one were the hard-core KLA supporters. The other were those Albanians who migrated into Kosovo from Albania and elsewhere illegally, and who may have obtained fraudulent citizenship documents from the autonomous Albanian government of Kosovo from 1974-1989. This latter group included many who had profited from their activities in the “Kosovo Heroin Mafia” or were suspected of such as they built large modern houses and “flashed” their money around , as nouveau riche always do.

The Serbs are not the only threat refugees fear; Albanian girls face a greater threat to their chastity, it appears, from Albanian Mafia gangs kidnapping girls for their prostitution rackets in Milan and elsewhere, as the Times of London reported below –other confirming articles are to be found in other archives.

There was a significant amount of local settling of scores by paramilitaries, and indications of a couple of massacres. But even after the indictments handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal -Yugoslavia (ICTY) in late May, there remains little published evidence of wide-spread and large-scale massacres or mass rapes, though refugees and NATO continue to assert a large-scale pattern of such abuses. In the end, the truth will be tragic enough, with all sides bearing a portion of responsibility.

Benjamin Works

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The Articles:1. Chris Hedges, “Kosovo’s Next Masters?” in Foreign Affairs, May/June 1999; p. 36[…]

In another era the Jashari clan, which oversaw a large black-market smuggling network, would have faded away into local folklore. The Balkans are filled with small-time renegades who combine criminal activity with thin, separatist ideologies. Instead, by leveling Prekaz with 20 mm antiaircraft cannons and killing more than 50 people, including many old people, women, and children, the Serbs made the Jasharis into martyrs. U.S. Special Envoy to the Balkans Robert Gelbard gave what many have interpreted as a green light to Belgrade to go after the rebel bands by announcing in Pri’stina on February 23, 1998, that the KLA “is without any question a terrorist group.” He went on to add that the United States “condemns very strongly terrorist activities in Kosovo.” Within two weeks Serb forces had turned Prekaz into a smoldering ruin, killed close to a hundred people, and ignited the uprising.

A few days after the Jashari compound was flattened with mortar and cannon shells, I wandered among the piles of brick and cement. In the ruins of one room lay a blackened book with a map that showed a Greater Albania that included Kosovo, parts of Serbia, much of Macedonia, and parts of present-day Greece and Montenegro. The map was drawn up on July 1, 1878, when the bajraktars, or clan chieftains, from the Turkish realms of the southwest Balkans founded the League for the Defense of the Albanian Nation. The book was a potent reminder of what the war was about — especially since, with most ethnic Albanians concentrated in homogeneous areas bordering Albania, the drive to extend Albania’s borders remains feasible.

[…]…………

http://www.srpska-mreza.com

  Back to:

    [ SIRIUS ARCHIVE: Kosovo Files ]
    [ Yugoslavia’s problem with Kosovo ]
    [ NATO helps its Kosovo proxies ]
    [ Kosovo Home Page ]

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Where am I? PATH:  Book of facts History of the Balkans Big powers and civil wars in Yugoslavia (How was Yugoslavia dismantled and why.) Proxies at work (Muslims, Croats and Albanians alike were only proxies of the big powers)   - Croats are resurrecting Nazi Croatia - Muslims are resurrecting Turkish Empire - Kosovo Albanians are making Drug Haven The Aftermath

 

Context of ‘After 1994-1999: CIA and Bin Laden Train KLA in Albania’

This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event After 1994-1999: CIA and Bin Laden Train KLA in Albania. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.

 

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Shortly After April 9, 1994: Bin Laden Travels to Albania, Meets with Government Officials

Bin Laden visits Albania as a member of a Saudi government delegation. He is introduced as a friend of the Saudi government who could finance humanitarian projects. Yet, earlier the same month, the Saudi government supposedly cut all ties with bin Laden (see April 9, 1994). One former US intelligence officer will complain in 1999, “Why was he a member of that delegation? The Saudis are supposed to be our allies. They told us he was persona non grata, and yet here he was working the crowds on an official visit.” Bin Laden strengthens ties with the Albanian secret service, with an eye to assisting the fight against Serbia in the neighboring country of Bosnia. [Reeve, 1999, pp. 180-181; Washington Times, 9/18/2001; Ottawa Citizen, 12/15/2001]

Entity Tags: Osama bin Laden, Albania

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

 

After 1994-1999: CIA and Bin Laden Train KLA in Albania

In 1994 Albanian Premier Sali Berisha reportedly helps bin Laden set up a network in Albania through Saudi charity fronts after bin Laden visits Albania (see Shortly After April 9, 1994). Berisha later uses his property to train the KLA militant group. [London Times, 11/29/1998]

Entity Tags: Sali Berisha, Kosovo Liberation Army, Osama bin Laden

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

 

February 1995: Albanian Narco-Terrorism Destabilizes the Balkans

According to a report in Jane’s Intelligence Review, Albanian narco-terrorism, gun-running, and smuggling organizations are becoming a dominant economic, political, and military force in the Balkans. Jane’s expresses the concern that if left unchecked, the Albanian mafia will become powerful enough to control one or more states in the region. Albanian President Sali Berisha “is now widely suspected of tolerating and even directly profiting from drug-trafficking for wider political-economic reasons, namely the financing of secessionist political parties and other groupings in Kosovo and Macedonia.” [Jane’s Intelligence Review, 2/1/1995]

Entity Tags: Albania, Sali Berisha

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

 

1997: Albanian Government Falls, Al-Qaeda and Other Criminal Groups Loot Armories

Sali Berisha. [Source: Albanian government website]The regime of Sali Berisha in Albania collapses due to a widespread failed pyramid scheme that greatly angers the population. This leads to the looting of 10,000 heavy weapons from government armories and 100,000 passports. Many of these are taken by al-Qaeda. [Ottawa Citizen, 12/15/2001] Subsequently, organized crime has a very strong influence in Albania. For example, in 1999, when Albanian police confiscate speed boats being used in smuggling operations, the angry gang barricades the main coastal road, beats up the police chief, and retakes the boats. Police, even though backed up by the Army, do not dare to intervene. [Reuters, 1/23/1999] Thousands of Albanians are driven into hiding to try to escape vendettas and blood-feuds. [Guardian, 9/30/1998] After the collapse of his government, Berisha turns his family farm into a KLA base. [New York Times, 6/9/1998] He will become prime minister in Albania in 2005.

Entity Tags: Sali Berisha, Al-Qaeda

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

 

January 17, 1999: Large Number of Mujaheddin Entering Albania

The Greek press reports that Afghan mujaheddin are entering Albania in large numbers. Osama bin Laden is named as one of those who have organized groups to fight in Kosovo to fight alongside the Albanians. According to the Arab-language news service Al-Hayat, an Albanian commander in Kosovo code named Monia is directly linked to bin Laden, and commands a force that includes at least 100 mujaheddin. An Interpol report released on October 23, 2001 also reveals that a senior bin Laden associate led an elite KLA fighting unit in Kosovo. According to the report, bin Laden also maintained extensive ties with the Albanian mafia. [Ottawa Citizen, 12/15/2001]

update: 18.12.2011

15.12.2011 | 10:31

 

U.S., Kosovo sign cultural protection agreement

Source: Tanjug

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga signed the Agreement on Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties.

 

Hillary Clinton and Atifete Jahjaga (Beta, file)

Clinton said the U.S. was committed to the preservation of all of Kosovo’s cultural heritage.

“I saw firsthand one of the most cherished cultural treasures, the Gračanica Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox site that dates back to the 14th century, but it’s just one of many such sites. And it’s essential that as Kosovo forges a pluralistic society, a nation that guarantees citizenship rights, equal rights to all of its people, that all of these sites be preserved for the people in Kosovo and the Balkans, as well as others throughout the world who share that same heritage,” the U.S. secretary of state said Wednesday.

…………….http://www.b92.net/eng/news/

Clinton lied to us
Everything “know” about Kosovo - is a lie served to you by the media.

The Big Lie
Everything was based on this Big Lie.

The “Genocide” lie
Of course it was a lie that Yugoslavia was committing genocide on Kosovo Albanians.

German assessment about “Genocide”
Different official documents of the German Government assess that there was NO Genocide happening in Kosovo.

Clinton - the Traitor!
Clinton used Kosovo to cover for his high treason!

“International community” - without China!?
Most of this planet was opposing NATO’s attack on sovereign Yugoslavia

We bombed our devoted ally
Bombing of the Serbs, our brave, devoted ally from two world wars shows an utter disrespect of history by the Washington regime.

Kosovo ALbanians the world leaders in heroin trade
“Thanks… to NATO, the Balkans will soon come to resemble places like Colombia, where drug traffickers are so powerful that they effectively control the state. Politicians, political parties, provincial governments and security authorities are in the pocket of drug lords.”

KLA in USA
The KLA danger is - right here, in U.S.A.

CIA trained these drug traffickers!
AMERICAN intelligence agents now (a year later!) admit they trained the Kosovo Liberation Army before Nato’s bombing of Yugoslavia.

Clinton’s criminal irresponsibility
Was this bombing campaign planned at all? Or was it only “Bombs away!”

UN mission in Kosovo - “an incompetent laughing stock”
Kosovo was turned into chaos!

Albanian tolerance - murders a professor
His only guilt - he was a Serb!

Albanian tolerance - murders a doctor
His only guilt - he was a Serb!

Albanian tolerance - murders a UN humanitarian
His only guilt - he was a Bulgarian! Albanians can not tolerate ANY Slav. Speak in a Slavic language - you are dead!

Albanians cleansed everyone!
“No debate on Clinton’s inane interventions.”

There is NO future for Kosovo
NATO and their drug-trafficking friends deny any future for Kosovo inhabitans.

Next KLA enemy - NATO
NATO will be the next target of the Kosovo Albanian “tolerance.”

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The conclusion

Canadian General: “We bombed the wrong side”
General Lewis MacKenzie: “[T]he West was being sucked in on the side of an extremist, militant, Kosovo-Albanian independence movement… The fact that the lead organization spearheading the fight for independence, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was universally designated a terrorist organization and known to be receiving support from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda was conveniently ignored… When they achieve independence with the help of our tax dollars combined with those of bin Laden and al-Qaeda, just consider the message of encouragement this sends to other terrorist-supported independence movements around the world.

Dieser Eintrag wurde am 16.12.2011 um 21:07 verfasst und befindet sich in Geschichte - History. 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.