1993-1995: Croatian General Agim Ceku Responsible for Anti-Serb Atrocities

  

Agim Ceku. [Source: Viewimages.com]Croatian General Agim Ceku’s troops in Croatia are responsible for many atrocities against the Croatian Serbs, witnessed by Canadian peace-keeping forces. The Canadian testimony ultimately leads to a sealed indictment against Ceku being issued by the Hague Tribunal. [Taylor, 2002, pp. 164] Ceku will be elected prime minister of Kosovo in 2006 despite the still pending war crimes charges (see January 1999).

Entity Tags: Agim Ceku

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January 1999: Indicted War Criminal Takes Over Command of the KLA with US Approval

  

From left to right: Hashim Thaci, UCK leader; Bernard Kouchner, UN Administrator of Kosovo; Gen. Sir Michael Jackson, KFOR Commander; Agim Ceku, Commander of KLA; Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO Commander. [Source: Vojin Joksimovich]General Agim Ceku retires his commission in the Croatian armed forces to take command of the KLA. Despite the fact that Ceku is an indicted war criminal (see 1993-1995), this move has the blessing of the US State Department. As head of the KLA, Ceku is viewed by NATO and presented in the mainstream media as a loyal and valuable NATO ally. He is a frequent participant in NATO briefings along with top generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson. [Taylor, 2002, pp. 164]March 2006). Ceku will be elected prime minister of Kosovo in 2006 despite the still pending war crimes charges (see

Entity Tags: Agim Ceku, Kosovo Liberation Army, US Department of State

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March 2006: Wanted War Criminal Becomes Ruler of Kosovo; Charges against Him Dropped

  

Agim Ceku is elected prime minister of Kosovo. Kosovo is still part of Serbia but is veering towards independence. Ceku was reportedly responsible for many atrocities while a Croatian general in 1993-1995 (see 1993-1995). He then became a top leader of the al-Qaeda-linked militant group, the Kosovo Liberation Army. Interpol removes Ceku from its list of wanted persons simply because of his new status as prime minister. [Associated Press, 3/24/2006]

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Ramush Haradinaj

Former Kosovo PM on trial for war crimes

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source: FINANCIAL TIMES

By Neil MacDonald in Belgrade

Friday, 9 March 2007

Kosovo’s leading politician and ex-prime minister went on trial on Monday at the United Nations tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia.

Ramush Haradinaj and two other former guerrilla leaders under his command, also standing trial, are accused of organising the murder, rape, torture and intimidation of Serbs and other civilians seen as collaborators with the Serb-led regime in the mostly ethnic Albanian province.

Mr Haradinaj’s trial in The Hague opens at a tense time, during the final phase of UN-brokered negotiations between the pro-independence Kosovo Albanian provisional government and Belgrade, where nearly all political parties refuse to agree to independence for Kosovo.

Mr Haradinaj, who resigned as prime minister upon his indictment in March 2005, has been instrumental in keeping the province calm until he returned to The Hague last week to stand trial. While on provisional release, he continued to advise the UN administration and UN officials are now worried about how to keep Kosovo stable in his absence.

Prosecutors seeking his conviction say the Kosovo Liberation Army’s campaign in the Dukagjin area starting in March 1998 aimed to drive out the Serb population from local villages. A 78-day bombing campaign begun by Nato in March 1999 – spurred by Serb police and army atrocities against Kosovo Albanians – left the disputed province in the care of the UN pending an international decision about its future status.

The UN Security Council will next month consider the status plan prepared by Martti Ahtisaari, chief UN mediator, which would clear the way for Kosovo’s declaration of independence while allowing several Serb municipalities to preserve their ties to Serbia .

Impatience with repeated delays, combined with fears that the plan gives too much power back to the Serbs, triggered violence last month between ethnic Albanian demonstrators and UN police in the provisional capital, Pristina.

The UN administration has opened an inquiry into the deaths of two protestors after Romanian riot police seconded to the Kosovo government headquarters opened fire with rubber bullets. UN and other international vehicles have been bombed.