In 1995, Osama Bin Laden visited Albania as a guest of President Sali Berisha.  Accompanying Bin Laden was Bashkin Garzided, former head of the Albanian Secret Police, Hashim Thaci, then leader of the KLA, and Ramush Haradinaj, former commander of the KLA who in 1999 was indicted by the International Court at the Hague on 37 charges, including murder, torture, rape and the expulsion of Serbs, Albanians and Roma. This meeting of international criminals was held to plan a jihad in Kosovo. (1)  With NATO military power behind it, the jihad succeeded in wresting the province of Kosovo from Serbia.
     
On June 10, 2007 President George Bush visited Albania to hold a meeting with President Sali Berisha at which he declared his support for Albania’s efforts to join NATO and declare an independent Kosovo.            

On July 21, 2008, President Bush welcomed President Tatmir Sejdui and new Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci.  Bush stated his approval of their leadership and his support for their goals and policies.

           
Today, 2008, Kosovo is under the control of criminal leaders tolerated by the bureaucracy of Europe.  Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has declared that Kosovo is independent and free, but he ignores the fact that occupied Kosovo was created in violation of international law.      The current government in Kosovo functions without a democratic constitution.  Hatred and fear between Albanians, Serbians and Roma prevail. Kosovo is one of the poorest regions in the world, with an unemployment rate of 43.7 percent.  The country is ruled through corruption by organized crime.  The UN mission on Kosovo states: “Kosovo ranks as one of the worlds most corrupt countries with 67 percent of the population reporting that they have to pay a bribe to get service.” (2)

           
The World Health Organization reports that drug use in Kosovo by people under 25 years of age has reached an unprecedented level.  Tension between the Serbs, Albanians and Roma is a major problem, with each ethnic group living in isolation from the other.  The Albanian children, copying the actions of their parents, throw stones and harass the Serbian and Roma citizens. 
           
Not only has Kosovo become corrupt and undemocratic, but its illegal creation through great power meddling has set a dangerous precedent throughout the world.  This tragic situation in Kosovo is encouraging insurgents in other countries who seek to create their own state through violence. Among the many groups seeking secession from their own countries are the Basques and Catalans in Spain, the Magyara in Romania, the Muslim Pomaks in Bulgaria, the Hungarian Minority in Slovakia, The Turks in western Thrace of Greece, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, Transdniestria in Moldava, and many others.

           
We are witnessing a new era in international relations characterized by ethnic unrest, disputed borders and political instability.  It is in this context that the United Nations’ highest judicial body will consider the legality of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.  About 140 UN members, including five European Union countries, continue to withhold recognition of Kosovo’s independence.  The court’s decision should be made within the next six months, and though that decision  is not binding, Belgrade and the world at large hope the court’s ruling will facilitate principled negotiations on Kosovo’s final status.

References

(1)   Haradinaj and Thaci met with Osama Bin Laden in Tirana in 1995 to plan Al-Qaeda, jihad in Kosovo, May 2, 2008.  http://www.srbihja.sr.gov.yu

Source Government of Serbia

      
(2) Independent Kosovo Faces an Uncertain Economic Future, posted by Waldo             

             Vanderhaeghen, February 21, 2008.  Http://rationseeuropean.wordpress.com/fied