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Podgorica, 5 August (AKI) - A court in the small Balkan country of Montenegro on Tuesday convicted 12 ethnic Albanians, including four US citizens, of plotting a rebellion when the republic became independent of Serbia in 2006. Judge Ivica Stankovic also convicted five other members of the group from Montenegro's Albanian minority of possessing illegal weapons. He sentenced the 17 defendants to prison terms ranging from three months to six and a half years for planning a rebellion and the Americans received some of the toughest sentences. The ethnic Albanians were arrested on terrorism charges in September 2006, but the...

Skopje, Macedonia - Nine people were wounded, several of them critically, in a gangland-style shootout in renewed violence in Macedonia, authorities in Skopje confirmed Friday. The drive-by attack from two cars, involving automatic weapons and shotguns, happened late Thursday in Radusa, a village in a tense section of Macedonia dominated by ethnic Albanians. The details remain sketchy and police said it was still investigating. One of the wounded men was Besfor Haliti, son of three-time lawmaker Rafiz Haliti, a prominent member of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). In a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, the elder Haliti said...

Pristina, 21 May (AKI) – Kosovo Albanian journalist Baton Hadziju has been arrested and faces charges for contempt of the United Nations' Hague-based Yugoslav war crimes tribunal after he allegedly identified a secret witness in a trial. Hadziju, until recently the editor of the leading Albanian language daily Koha ditore and currently director of another daily Ekspres, was arrested in Pristina on Tuesday and has been transferred to The Hague (photo), Kosovo police said. Prosecutors at the tribunal allege that Baton Haxhiu, the editor of a newspaper, last year obtained information about a witness with a protected identity and then...

Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Kosovo The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) continued to monitor suspected terrorist activity with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG). Officials believed that a few of the more than 400 NGOs operating in Kosovo were involved in suspicious activities, and sought to prevent extremists from using NGOs to gain a foothold in Kosovo. Consequently, municipalities authorized NGO use of public facilities for religious gatherings only if the relevant religious community consented. The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and UNMIK Police Counterterrorism Units (CTUs) were primarily responsible for Kosovo's counterterrorism efforts, but were small and...

Just a few hours after I explained on Jihad Watch what was wrong with Michael Totten’s pro-Albanian-supremacist post on Commentary magazine’s website, the following item was posted on the site. It concerns an article that came out in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle last week on the one-year anniversary of the Ft. Dix arrests of four Albanians, the significance of which becomes clear if you notice that the woman’s name is Albanian. Introductory comment by JW director Robert Spencer: "She says she’s just being singled out because she is a Muslim. And I’m sure that’s true. I’m sure there are...

Hundreds of ethnic Albanians in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, have protested against Serbia's plans to hold elections in Kosovo on Sunday. The protesters said the United Nations' interim Kosovo mission (Unmik) and the Kosovo government were responsible for failing to use their powers to prevent the elections from going ahead. During Friday's protest, the demonstrators dumped rubbish in front of the UN mission and government buildings. Albin Kurti, leader of the Self-determination Youth Movement, said the rubbish symbolised what the protesters thought of the Unmik and government decision to ignore the polls. The Serbian government, which staunchly opposes Kosovo's move, is...

The new situation arising from the unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence shapes a new reality that will have multitude and mostly negative consequences for countless nations across the globe. It is important also to illuminate around the existence of the Kosovo issue as a demographic one, shaped by the expansion of one group of people (Albanian Muslims) versus the other one (Serbian Christians). Moreover the existence of facts on the ground as resulting from the population growth of the former, signify a real precedent for other regions in the world. In 1913 when Kosovo & Metojia became a part of...

Croatia’s recognition of Kosovo has more to do with a desire to please Washington than responsible regional politics, writes Marinko Čulić. In less than the two months since Kosovo became independent, Croatia has been flooded with so many wrong conclusions and theses that they have already started to create a false parallel reality. This is not to say that unforgettable political statements have not been made before, especially during Tudjman’s time, when, for example, the thesis of Croatia as the ‘bulwark of Christianity’ shook the western part of ex-Yugoslavia, and almost the country itself. We thought we had left this...

CAMDEN, New Jersey-A man who admitted letting a group of accused terror-plotters shoot his guns at a firing range was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Monday. Judge Robert Kugler said Agron Abdullahu, who is originally from Kosovo, deserved more than the 10 to 16 months that sentencing guidelines call for because he knew the men who were talking about violence against Americans. "I am convinced that he is not as innocent as he'd like us to believe," Kugler said before handing down his sentence. "This is not a common, ordinary, technical violation of the law." However, the sentence...

Last month, the Serbian province of Kosovo declared its independence. This week, Canada became the 31st country to recognize it. Foreign affairs critic Bob Rae wondered what took our government so long. Well — perhaps we hesitated recognizing what we went to war for because we recognized that we should have hesitated going to war for it. Wait a minute, someone might say. Canada didn’t go to war in 1999 as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to help Kosovo secede from Serbia. That would have been like Germany dismantling Czechoslovakia in 1938 to liberate the Sudetenland....

The international community is deploying a new mission to Kosova [Kosovo] with a more acceptable name than the previous one. But, the powers of the new mission remain the same as the old one's. EULEX will have the power to replace the president, prime minister, and other more junior officials. It will have the power to appoint key officials, annul laws, and arrest us - each and everyone of us - indefinitely and without justification. These are the "executive powers" of EULEX, which have been described as "softer," "less severe," and "more humane" than those that UNMIK [UN Interim Administration...

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Regional UNMIK chief Gerard Gallucci has resigned, but the UN HQ has not accepted his resignation. The U.S. diplomat in charge of the UN operations in Kosovska Mitrovica was asked to withdraw his resignation. This is what an anonymous diplomatic source told Beta news agency tonight, adding that Gallucci was "currently on vacation, and will resume his duties once he returns". Earlier today, KIM Radio reported that Gallucci, who is currently abroad, opted for this move because of the differences he has with Priština. KIM's sources with the UN mission in the province's capital confirmed this. "Gallucci...

Over 1,300 Kosovo Serbs, in addition to those for whom we know they have been killed and whose remains were handed over to their families by the UNMIK during the past 8 years, are still listed as missing. In some cases the entire families were kidnapped by the KLA/UCK at some point during the 1998-1999 war and after UN/NATO took over the administration and security of the southern Serbian province. These people were taken away in an unknown direction and, for all we know, disappeared from the face of the earth. Over the years, we have learned that a number...

....(Albanian) Women used to be relegated to restrictive lives at home, guarded behind the high-walled compounds that traditionally housed extended ethnic Albanian families, or clans. It wasn't freedom, but it was out of the reach of outside exploitation. Traffickers brought women from elsewhere, such as Moldova and Romania, initially to be shuttled to Italy or other parts of Europe and, after the war, to remain in Kosovo to "service" a growing international population..... ...After a brutal crackdown by Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, Kosovo came under the stewardship of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations. During the years...

The West will live to regret its betrayal of the Serbs An independent Kosovo offers a European foothold for jihadists, argues Hermann Kelly Gordon Brown's support for Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence should surprise and disappoint people in equal measure. Surprise because, as Prime Minister, he failed to discuss the matter in any depth in the Parliament before he made this announcement. And disappoint because this ill-thought-out move breaks international law, creates a dangerous precedent and gives succour and hope to every crackpot secessionist group in the world. This latest Government move has sent out the message that if secessionists...

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, PRIŠTINA, -- Kosovo Serbs yesterday marked Zadušnice, a religious holiday dedicated to the souls of the dead. Orthodox Christian Serbs observe four such days each year, when families visit cemeteries to light candles and say prayers at the graves of their loved ones. For many Serbs in Kosovo, especially those whose relatives were buried in cemeteries that are now located in ethnic Albanian communities, observing the holiday has since 1999 been a practice that endangered their personal safety, but also brought with it a particular heartbreak – that of finding the grave of a loved one desecrated. Serb...

It is expected that early on in 2008, probably February, the United Nations-supervised Albanian Muslim Administration of the Serbian province of Kosovo will make a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). The United States has said it is prepared to recognize Kosovo, despite the objections of the Serbian government and more importantly, despite the fact that Russia, a key ally of Serbia, does not want Kosovo independence. While unclear, it is likely a number of European countries starting with the United Kingdom, France and Germany will follow Washington's lead. Several other countries, notably Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Greece say they...

Kosovo-Metohija is the very heart and soul of the Serbian nation. Kosovo province is to Serbs what Westminster Abbey is to Britons, Paris is to the French or Jerusalem is to the three world religions. It is not something the Serbian nation is willing to surrender to NATO, Albanian Muslims or the US State Department, however mighty they might think they are, and however persistently they demand to steal it. The Serbian province of Kosovo, administered by NATO since June 1999, is the fourth region with the highest corruption rate in the world, right after Albania, according to a report...

Kosovo auf Deutsch 11/18/2007 (Balkanalysis.com) By David Binder Forget about status negotiations for a moment. The near-term outlook for Kosovo is unalterably grim: an economy stuck in misery; a bursting population of young people with “criminality as the sole career choice;” an insupportably high birthrate; a society imbued with corruption and a state dominated by organized crime figures. These are the conclusions of “Operationalizing of the Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans,” a 124-page investigation by the Institute for European Policy commissioned by the German Bundeswehr and issued last January. This month the text turned up on a weblog....

By JEFFREY GOLD – 6 hours ago CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — An anonymous jury will hear the case of six men accused of plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler rejected defense complaints that such a jury would be biased. He agreed with federal prosecutors that the trial presents an exceptional case and could create apprehensive jurors. Several factors led to his decision, including pretrial publicity, he said. The six were arrested in May and charged with planning to raid the New Jersey military installation, which is being used...

Forget about status negotiations for a moment. The near-term outlook for Kosovo is unalterably grim: An economy stuck in misery; a bursting population of young people with "criminality as the sole career choice;" an insupportably high birthrate; a society imbued with corruption and a state dominated by organized crime figures. These are the conclusions of "Operationalizing of the Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans," a 124-page investigation by the Institute for European Policy commissioned by the German Bundeswehr and issued in January. This month the text turned up on a Web log. It is labeled "solely for internal use."...

The United States on Wednesday slammed as "baseless" a Serbian minister's accusation that Washington wanted to create a "NATO state" in Kosovo. A plan drawn up by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari -- which envisaged a supervised independence for Kosovo -- has been backed by the United States, the European Union and most Western countries. "Calling the Ahtisaari plan for Kosovo a NATO state is quite a stretch," US State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said, commenting on the reported remarks by Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic last week. "We do not consider this statement to represent the official view of the...

GRAČANICA -- Three unidentified persons kidnapped and raped a Serb girl in Gra�anica Monday evening, Tanjug reported. Another Serb, who was with her, was severely beaten and robbed, Kosovo Police Service (KPS) representatives told the agency Tuesday. KPS regional spokesman Agron Borovci said the incident occurred in Gra�anica at around 9 p.m. yesterday, and that police were in active search of the perpetrators. “An Opel Vectra automobile blocked the road ahead of the victims and then three persons dragged the young man out of his vehicle, beat him up and closed him in the trunk, from where he was released...

The younger brother of the slain 11-year-old Pantelija Dakic was carrying the cross to mark his brother’s grave at the funeral. August 13, 2003, Gorazdevac, Kosovo-Metohija, Serbia.Four Years Later: Massacre of Serbian Children Unpunished Monday August 13 marks the four year anniversary since the brutal massacre of two Serbian children and wounding of four more in the Bistrica River, in the village of Gorazdevac, close to Pec in Kosovo province. The memorial service held each year for the slain boys was held today in the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God in Gorazdevac. Out of six Serbian boys...

While few businesses seem willing to invest in ‘risky’ Kosovo, some wealthy New York Albanians hope to combine their patriotic instincts with their wish to make a profit. By Andi Balla in New York With its nondescript offices in Brooklyn, Triangle General Contractors could be a typical small American business aspiring to expand its niche market - roofing and construction in New York City. But its owner, Florin Krasniqi, has other plans. Against the advice of many, he bets that Triangle can flourish by investing in his native Kosovo. When the company won an international bid to reconstruct an 8.3...

VIENNA, Austria-Police said Saturday they arrested an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo after he allegedly stabbed a Serbian man during an argument at a hotel restaurant in eastern Austria. Authorities said the 52-year-old suspect, whose name was not released in line with Austrian privacy laws, stabbed the unidentified 33-year-old Serb with a hunting knife on Friday at the restaurant in Oberwart, in the easternmost province of Burgenland. Investigators said the victim was seated at the restaurant when the suspect and his 24-year-old son entered and approached him. They said the Serb was stabbed in the chest and face during the altercation,...

Washington/Belgrade, 23 July(AKI) – Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders were due to meet in Washington on US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Monday to try and clarify the diplomatic impasse over the breakaway province's independence from Serbia. The Kosovan leaders and Rice will try and chart a way forward on the province's future status after the United Nations Security Council last Friday withdrew a draft resolution granting Kosovo internationally supervised independence. After repeated efforts to push through a resolution based on the proposal by UN special negotiator Martti Ahtisaari, western powers, which favour independence, decided to shift the problem to...

Bexhet Pacoli, the richest Kosovo Albanian in the world from whose telephone, according to BND findings, a transaction in the amount of two million euros was arranged from a Swiss bank to one in Cyprus in the name of Kosovo special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, openly claims that he is paying 60 people just in Washington who are lobbying for the independence of Kosovo. "In Washington I am paying a team of 60 people who are lobbying for Kosovo in the administration of president George Bush and in the U.S. Senate and Congress," said Pacoli in a recently published interview. He...

After my article “The ‘Successful War’ we Lost in Kosovo” came out in this month’s American Legion Magazine, I received a letter from an American soldier who deployed there last year. He was stunned that anyone was talking about Kosovo, even more that someone was aware of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Kosovo and of the jihadists passing through there freely. “With all the attention on Iraq,” he told me by phone, “everyone underestimates this region. No one understands that what happens here will play a key role in European security for the next 10 [or more] years.” Following...

U.S. State Department Unable to Deny Reports on Ahtisaari Corruption Excerpt From July 13 Press Briefing .... QUESTION: One more on the same issue. According to reports, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon already started an investigation about these payments, confirmed the existence by a report prepared for him by the German intelligence agency BND unit assigned to the UN mission in Kosovo. Any comment on it? MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, you’re free to go ask the UN what investigations it has or hasn’t started. [...] If you’d like to pursue shadows, feel free to talk to the UN about...

Last week’s summit between President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin resulted in no "grand bargain" that could pave the way for the birth of an independent Kosovo. The momentary frustration for U.S. diplomacy of leaving unresolved final status of the UN-administered province may, however, prove to be a blessing in disguise. While the shortcomings of the Ahtisaari Plan have been analyzed and the dangerous precedent which would be set by redrawing borders with or without UN Security Council approbation well-known, consideration must be given to the overwhelming impact on the international community that Kosovo’s statehood would have....

On July 8, 2007 the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army, Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës or UÇK) war veterans issued an announcement warning the international community and especially the United Nations (UN) not to interfere the process of recognizing Kosovo’s independence. The KLA announcement specifically said that the Albanian leaders of Kosovo should not accept more suspensions (delays) or new negotiations because these would lead to new hostilities. If their demands were not accepted, then the KLA veterans warned that they would have to take action as KLA soldiers and honor the oath of their national heroes. The announcement came while the...

President Bush, enthusiastically welcomed as the first U.S. president in this former communist nation, served notice Sunday he is running out of patience with Russia's objections to independence for neighboring Kosovo. "Sooner rather than later you've got to say 'Enough's enough - Kosovo is independent,'" Bush said, telling Albanians what they wanted to hear. He said independence was a certainty. Nearing the end of an eight-day trip, Bush got a hero's reception in this desperately poor country, still struggling to recover from being cut off from the rest of the world for four decades under the harsh rule of dictator...

US President George W. Bush, leaving behind thousands of anti-Bush protesters in Rome, got a hero's welcome in Albania on Sunday as he became the first American president to visit this tiny impoverished nation. When Mr. Bush arrived on his brief stop in Tirana, the hills overlooking the capital boomed as military cannons fired a 21-gun salute to the president. Thousands of people gathered in the downtown square on a brilliantly sunny day to see the president and first lady Laura Bush

TIRANA, Albania - (AP) The Albanian army began its sixth troop rotation in Iraq Sunday with a 120-troop army contingent that is to replace soldiers who have served there since April, the Defense Ministry said. The army unit is to serve a six-month mission in Iraq under U.S.-led command serve in a non-combat role, mainly patrolling the airport in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Pellumb Qazimi and U.S. Ambassador Marcie Ries were present at the ceremony at an army base before the troops departed for Iraq. Albania, a predominantly Muslim...

A sixth, 120-strong contingent from Albania was seen off Sunday as they prepared to join coalition forces in Mosul. Praising their mission as a noble one, Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu reminded them of their contribution to global security. A sixth Albanian army contingent bound for duty in Iraq was seen off Sunday (9 October) during a departure ceremony at a command centre north of Tirana. Addressing the peacekeepers, Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu assured them their mission is a noble one. "The important aspect of your mission consists of your priority: to contribute to the security of the peace in the...

TIRANA, Albania, Sept. 26, 2006 – Albanian soldiers will remain in Iraq until the job is done, the country’s defense minister promised Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld here today. With plans to thank Albanian leaders for their support in the global war on terror and to meet with defense ministers from southeastern European nations, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived here this afternoon after a brief visit to Montenegro. “Let me declare here, Mr. Secretary, that the Albanian armed forces will stay on the side of the American armed forces in Iraq until the mission will be over,” Albanian Defense...

NEW YORK -- World War II was over, and Anna Kohen, then a small child, was walking with her mother in Vlora, Albania, when a Muslim woman ran toward them, crying and calling her mother by an unfamiliar name. The women hugged and cried. Later, her mother explained that the woman was from a village where she, Kohen's father and other Jews had hidden during the Nazi occupation before Kohen was born. To protect themselves, Kohen's mother and father had taken Muslim names. "Everyone in the village knew they were Jews, but no one betrayed them," Kohen recalled Wednesday as...

By Sgt. Marshall Thompson, 207th MPAD LSA DIAMONDBACK, Iraq - When a Soldier from Fort Polk, La., arrived in Iraq for a one-year tour, the last thing he expected to find was a second family from a distant country.

Late last month, Albania announced it would increase its number of peacekeeping troops in Iraq.

Albanian politicians are helping Bin Laden SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Wednesday, November 17, 1999 [Emphasis added] LONDON -- Islamic fundamentalists as well as several leading politicians in Albania are believed to be helping Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden find a new place of refuge, Arab sources said this week. The sources said Western intelligence agencies believe Bin Laden is in contact with supporters in Albania and Kosovo in an attempt to find a new refuge amid heavy United States pressure on the Taliban ruling faction in Afghanistan to surrender Bin Laden. For the United States, the sources said, the...

Terror Arrests in Fort Dix Plot FORT DIX, N.J. May 8, 2007 - Six ethnic Albanians have been arrested in a plot to storm the Fort Dix installation in Burlington County. Five of the suspects were arrested in Cherry Hill. They will be arraigned later today in federal court. Officials say it will happen in either in Camden or Newark. Investigators say the suspects planned to use automatic weapons to storm the base and kill solders. The men were lured into a secret meeting to purchase AK-47s from an arms dealer, who was secretly cooperating with the FBI. Officials say...

Next week the United Nations begins consideration of a U.N. negotiator's proposal to give supervised independence to Kosovo, the predominatly ethnic-Albanian province that is now part of Serbia. Though the province's independence is not assured, many Serbs have begun to disinter the bodies of relatives in Kosovo and transfer them to burial grounds elsewhere in Serbia. Sabina Castelfranco has this VOA report from Rome. The last time the dead left Kosovo in any great number was 1999. Back then the bodies were those of ethnic-Albanians killed in attacks by Serb forces. The killing only stopped when NATO launched an aerial...

JURIST Guest Columnist Anthony D'Amato of Northwestern University School of Law says that creating an independent multi-ethnic state in Kosovo would almost certainly be a human rights disaster for the 200,000 Serbs living there... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The United States is on the verge of pushing a resolution through the UN Security Council declaring Kosovo to be an independent multi-ethnic state. The result will almost certainly be a human rights disaster for the 200,000 Serbs living in that tormented land. A few days ago at a breakfast meeting in Chicago, the speaker was asked whether independence for Kosovo was a "done deal."...

Tirana, March 7, 2007 (AENews) – Protests against Greek soldiers' anti-Albanian song is rising in Albania while politicians have called for a contained and calm response. In Durres and Elbasan, protesters burned Greek flags while the entire population is bewildered by the level of hatred and violence in the text of Greek Soldiers' song. A private video showing Greek soldiers singing "We are gone a make shoe-strings with Albanian guts" was published last week on the Internet, then was commented by the Greek and Albanian media. Foreign Relations committee in the Albanian Parliament called Thursday on the population to stop...

BELGRADE/PRISTINA/TIRANA/BERLIN(Own report) - Serbia should relinquish its southern province of Kosovo and place itself under the patronage of its former enemies. That is the gist of the offer which the German presidency made to the Belgrade government last Monday. As a reward for the renunciation of Kosovo, negotiations would be opened with the EU for an association agreement. The territorial self-amputation, which Berlin expects in the name of the EU, would break the Serbian constitution and create a dangerous precedent of forced secession of territories by appeals to "self determination" from violent minorities. Organisations connected with German foreign policy have...

The Wall Street Journal, Monday, September 9, 1985, pp.1,18 By Anthony M. DeStefano NEW YORK - The informant who visited the office of U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani [current Mayor of New York City] last December had a chilling story to tell: A defendant in a drug racketeering case that Mr. Giuliani was prosecuting was offering $400.000 to anyone who would kill a certain assistant U.S. attorney and a federal drug enforcement agent. For 45 minutes Mr. Giuliani and his chief assistant, William Tendy, listened to and evaluated the tale. Five other informants later corroborated it. The threatened lawmen-assistant prosecutor...

Two people have died overnight following clashes in Kosovo between ethnic Albanian protesters and police. They were among four people seriously wounded when United Nations and local police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse some 3,000 protesters...

PRISTINA, Serbia, Jan 30 (Reuters) - NATO is prepared for the worst-case scenario of regional violence in the event Serbs in north Kosovo revolt over an imminent decision on the fate of the province, the NATO commander there said on Tuesday. The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo is expected to win some form of independence from Serbia this year. German Lieutenant-General Roland Kather echoed concerns expressed by analysts that Serbs in the north could revolt, triggering a revival of conflicts in Serbia's Presevo Valley to the east and Macedonia to the south, where Albanians fought government forces in 2001...

Dear President Bush, Honorable Senators and Congressional Representatives: INTRODUCTION We, the signers of this petition, heartily disagree with what both Senator Joseph Biden and Ambassador Michael Polt have stated in several publications as the US position on Kosovo and we protest any US willingness to back what we believe may be one of the most unwise political decisions of the last twenty years. We believe that granting Kosovo independence would be a grave political error, that will not only completely destabilize the region, but will also set a precedent that could trigger similar independence movements around the globe. Respect for...