Posted on 02/22/2005 2:54:01 AM PST by Nennsy
Investigation: Kosovos Wild West
Vigilante law reigns in a part of Kosovo where justice doesnt quite reach.
Ramiz Muriqi, a tall man in his fifties, looks scared and isolated in his flat in Peja, about 80 kilometres west of Kosovos capital Pristina.
Im tired of watching my back all the time, worrying that Im next in line to be shot, said Muriqi, with two cell phones, an automatic pistol and two spare magazines hanging from his belt.
Peja - known to Serbs as Pec - is a large town in the Dukagjini plain of western Kosovo. In this region, law and order has broken down and shootings have become part of the fabric of life.
Acts of violence are prompted by a variety of motives, ranging from rivalries left over from the politics of the Kosovo conflict, through organised crime and business disputes, to tit-for-tat blood feuds.
It is sometimes hard to tell where one type ends and the other starts, but the overall picture is of a gangland culture holding the rest of society hostage.
Not that Kosovo is short on law-enforcement, with both internationals and the Kosovo Police Service, KPS, on the ground. But neither force has been equal to the task of stamping out the violence. Their apparent inability to resolve a number of recent murder cases has left a sense that the gunmen can operate with impunity.
That sends out a worrying message: as the families of murder victims grow increasingly resentful of the inaction, many come to believe that justice will only be done if they take matters into their own hands.
LEGACY OF WAR
The background to Ramiz Muriqis embattled position is indicative of the scale of the problem ...
(Excerpt) Read more at iwpr.net ...
Kosovo Ping!
Well well well...
We may find it out that Milosevich did have the right approach in that region.
The war started because everyone was crying that he was a bit heavy handed.
50.000 NATO troops are unable to operate even the traffic lights and getting registration numbers on the cars for 6 years.
Letting alone the road traffic, the albanians become the main Heroin trafficers to Europe and run the largest stolen car ring.
Before the war the heroin was about £18.00 a shot in London, GB - after the "Kosovo refugees" arrived and got almost free roam all over Europe, it went down to £5.00...
Now the record harvest in Afghanistan making sure that our children can get the drugs easily for their pocket-money.
Sure these guys need indepence !!!
Thank you Bill Clinton. /sarcasm
Milosovic has been on trial for about 6 yars and they havent convicted him yet. I would almost bet he will die and THEN they will convict him in absentia.
Yes Bubba did a great job here helping Al Quaeda and his exit strategy was excellent.
We were told by NATO that KLA was disarmed after the war and all weapons were collected.Seriously. That rationale was used to explain why NATO diligently collected ALL handguns, hunting rifles, hunting knives from Serb villagers, claiming they needed no weapons for personal protection.
At the same time, NG trains terrorists for "disaster relief". Last time I checked it was FEMA's duty.
Sooner or later, the terrorists will attempt to use recently purcased weapons and apply the knowledge NG provided.
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