Kosovo Liberation Army

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Kosovo Liberation Army (Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës)
Participant in Kosovo War
Active	1979 - 1999
Leaders	Hashim Thaci, Agim Çeku
Area of operations	Kosovo
Became	Kosovo Protection Corps
Allies	Albania, NATO
Opponents	Yugoslavia

The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës or UÇK, Serbian: Ослободилачка војска Косова or ОВК) was a Kosovar Albanian guerilla group which sought independence of Kosovo from Yugoslavia and Serbia in the late 1990s.

The Yugoslav authorities considered the KLA a terrorist group^[1], but most European countries did not. The Serbian government reported that the KLA had killed and kidnapped at least 3276 civilians, Serbs, Albanians, Roma and others.^[2] Sources independent of the Serbian government report the number of casualties attributable to the KLA to be lower.^{[citation needed]}

The KLA has been called "the most successful guerrilla movement of modern times."^[3] Its campaign against Serbian security forces precipitated a major Yugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998-1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces and Serb militias within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians and a refugee crisis that eventually caused NATO to intervene militarily in order to stop what was widely identified (by NATO nations, human rights organizations, the EU, and western media) as an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.^{[4] [5]} At the time, the view of western governments was heavily influenced by a desire to avoid repeating the failure of Western Europe to prevent human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing during the conflict in Bosnia. The conflict was ended by a negotiated agreement that secured the autonomy of Kosovo within Serbia under the protection of both UN and NATO troops.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.2 Emergence of the KLA (1995-1996) 1.3 Kosovo War (1997-1999) 1.4 The Kosovo War and aftermath (1999-) 2 Crimes 3 Armament 4 See also 5 References 5.1 General references 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The origins of the KLA are in the Popular Movement for the Republic of Kosova, they were expelled by the Serbian government in the 70's and 80's, such persons as doctor's, teachers, and other educated leaders, they became in charge commanding units of the rebel group. The group was formed by the Albanian emigration in 1982 in Switzerland and modeled on the Irish Republican Army (IRA).^[6] Its program lied in an armed resistance to create an Albanian national republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and eventually the creation of a Greater Albania.

According to other sources KLA was partly a leftist group. Finally and mainly, they were; as leading European criminal investigation departments claimed, involved in drug and women trafficking rings in Kosovo. Yugoslavia was forced to accept IWF conditions in order to deal with big problems. These problems were due to the breakdown of the Eastern-block's economic COMECON association. These IWF measures resulted in privatisation, rising prices, unemployment etc. and forced some people to turn to the drug trade to earn money. Hence the need to push out local police forces for the drug business made them very willing to act as an army. NATO secret services realised that they could be used as a political instrument, to create the Kosovo conflict, and thus attack and occupy Kosovo. The German Secret Service BND is reported to have recruited, organized and equipped the KLA in Tirana, the capital of Albania. ^[7]

The KLA fought against local police and also attacked Serbian civilians. However, the Western media mainly reported Serbian attacks against "Kosovo-Albanians" and largely ignored the actions of KLA-fighters. This was in order to create a picture of "ethnic cleansing" against the people of Kosovo. The KLA was later many times protected by the KVM, Kosovo Verification Mission. The KLA was also equipped with satellite mobile phones to coordinate their actions. During the war they directed NATO bombers to bridges and other targets in Kosovo. ^[8]

Furthermore, the US and British secret services have helped to build up the KLA. James Bissett, who in 1990, was appointed as Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania, and witnessed first-hand the Yugoslav tragedy. He blames the war, in a large part, to Western diplomatic blundering and deliberate scheming. He writes, "... that as early as 1998, the central intelligence agency assisted by the British Special Armed Services were arming and training Kosovo Liberation Army members in Albania to foment armed rebellion in Kosovo. (...) The hope was that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene ..." ^[9]

[edit] Emergence of the KLA (1995-1996)

In 1995, isolated attacks on Serbian police and civil targets were carried out by unnamed parties in Kosovo, though it was not until February 1996 that the name "Kosovo Liberation Army" was used for the first time following a series of attacks against targets that included police stations, Serb government officials, and Serb refugee centers in western Kosovo.^[10]

Observers initially doubted the existence of the KLA. The moderate Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova attributed the attacks to Serbian agents provocateurs. However, it soon became clear that the KLA was genuine. The Serbian authorities denounced it as a terrorist organization and increased the number of security forces in the region. This had the counter-productive effect of boosting the credibility of the embryonic KLA among the Kosovo Albanian population.

The founders of the KLA were Kosovo Albanians who were frustrated by the Rugova-backed "passive resistance" strategy. They sought to bring the issue of Kosovo's relations with Serbia to a head by provoking an open conflict, in which they believed the West would be forced to intervene. Two founding members of the KLA worth noting are; Zahir Pajaziti and Adem Jashari.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Kosovo War (1997-1999)

The Kosovo War
Prior to the NATO intervention
Kosovo Liberation Army insurgency Račak killings
NATO intervention
NATO intervention Civilian casualties
Other articles
Legitimacy Humanitarian bombing Other: Images This box: view • talk • edit

The KLA grew considerably in size between 1997 and 1999. A French expert writes: "The birth of the KLA in 1996 coincided with the appointment of Hansjoerg Geiger as the new head of the BND (German secret Service). (...) The BND men were in charge of selecting recruits for the KLA command structure from the 500,000 Kosovars in Albania." ^[11] Also the UK and USA trained and armed the KLA in hope that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene there. ^[12] As early as 1998, the U.S. State Department had listed the KLA as a terrorist organization financing its operations with money from the international heroin trade and Islamic funds, including alleged loans from Osama Bin Laden according to a Interpol report ^[13][14]

It carried out numerous attacks on Serbian police, army, and civilian targets, and set up roadblocks in the countryside. By May 1998, it effectively controlled a quarter of the province, centered on the region of Drenica; its stronghold was located in the village of Prekaz.^{[citation needed]}

The Serbian government was initially uncertain about how to react to the KLA. The Ministry of the Interior (MUP) simply ceased patrolling large areas of Kosovo, while the Yugoslav Army (VJ) often ignored KLA activity. Ibrahim Rugova's "shadow government" also faced a dilemma; it was unwilling to endorse the KLA's violent tactics but was wary of losing support to the radicals. Its position worsened after the KLA assassinated a number of Albanians regarded as "collaborators" with the Serbian government.^{[citation needed]}

The size of the KLA at this point was frankly unknown for certain. Spokesman Jakup Krasniqi claimed 30,000 men under arms, while other estimates ranged between 20,000 and 50,000. The Serbs, by contrast, claimed that the KLA comprised only a few hundred radicals. Whatever number was most accurate, it was certain that the KLA was militarily weak. Its fighters were equipped with small arms such as AK-47 assault rifles and a few RPG-7 anti-tank weapons; this was no match for the heavy weapons of the Yugoslav (and Serbian) security forces.^{[citation needed]}

This disparity became clear in the summer of 1998, when the Serbian government forces decided to seize the town of Orahovac. The state security forces launched an offensive against the KLA. The Serb forces started massacring anyone who was captured on site in the town of Orahovac. KLA units being lightly armed pulled back unable to stop the massive Serbian forces, it positioned itself in the back of town close to the border of Junik.

The KLA responded by reorganizing itself with a central command structure (modelled on that of the IRA) and training organization. It established a General Staff (Shtabi i Pergjithshem) of between 16-20 members and divided Kosovo into seven military operational zones, commanded semi-independently by local commanders operating under pseudonyms. The KLA also established a political arm, the Drejtoria Politike, led by prominent Kosovo independence activist Hashim Thaci. It built training camps and bases in the safe haven of north-eastern Albania, even establishing its own military academy (the Akademia e Ardhshme Ushtarake) where ethnic Albanians, formerly Yugoslav Army officers, trained new recruits. According to Serbian accounts, the primary KLA training camps in Albania were Labinot, near Tirana, Tropojë, Kukës and Bajram Curri near the Yugoslav-Albanian border.^{[citation needed]}

KLA fund raising was equally successful, raising millions of dollars in the central European underworld,^[15][16] for the guerrilla army and permitting it to buy considerable amounts of weapons on the black market.

The KLA continued to rely principally on small arms but expanded its arsenal to include SA-7 and FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, as well as light artillery such as mortars^{[citation needed]}.

There were reports that the KLA was supported in part by heroin trafficking.^[17] United States President Bill Clinton's special envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, described once the KLA as, "without any questions, a terrorist group". Nevertheless, by February 1998, the KLA had been removed from the United States State Department's terrorism list. According to reliable sources, KLA representatives had already met with American, British, and Swiss intelligence agencies in 1996, and possibly "several years earlier".^[18] In the same year, a British weekly newspaper, The European, stated that "German civil and military intelligence services have been involved in training and equipping the rebels with the aim of cementing German influence in the Balkan area."^[19] Former senior adviser to the German parliament Matthias Küntzel proved later on that his country secret diplomacy had been instrumental in helping the KLA since its creation.^[20] According to The Sunday Times, "American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia" [1].

The new Albanian government disclaimed any support for the KLA but did not close the border with Kosovo or the camps in Albania. It was probably not in a position to do so in any case, as the north-east of the country was in a state of anarchy at the time. In Kosovo, the KLA learned from its earlier mistakes, avoiding concentrating its strength in villages (so presenting the Serbs with easy targets). Instead, it mounted hit-and-run attacks from the hills and forests of western Kosovo. KLA fighters attacked Serbian police and civilian targets.

[edit] The Kosovo War and aftermath (1999-)

Full-scale war broke out in Kosovo in March 1999. The Serbian and Yugoslav forces launched an offensive against the KLA. The KLA initially suffered heavy losses and was driven back into Albania, with only a few thousand fighters remaining in Kosovo itself. Its commander, Sylejman Selimi, a political appointee with no formal military training, was removed in May 1999 and replaced with Agim Çeku, an ethnic Albanian who had previously served in the Croatian Army as brigadier-general. Although it had little direct military impact on the much stronger Serbian forces, the KLA did play one vital role in the war. After Çeku's appointment, it began to take a much more aggressive stance by attacking security force units and forcing them into the open, particularly after NATO aircraft were able to attack them.^{[citation needed]}

When the war ended, NATO and Serbian leaders agreed to a peace settlement that would see Kosovo governed by the United Nations with the KLA being demilitarized. The KLA was, however, not a signatory to the peace accords. KLA agreed to be transformed and disarmed [2]. NATO sought to bring it into the peace process with a promise to establish a 3,000-strong Kosovo Protection Corps drawn from KLA ranks and charged with disaster response, search and rescue, assistance with de-mining, providing humanitarian assistance, and helping to rebuild infrastructure and communities. The KPC's operational sectors were very similar to those established by the KLA, illustrating the continuity between the two organizations. The KPC took over the former Yugoslav Army barracks; each zone had its battalions established there.

The establishment of the KPC did not prove wholly successful, as many ex-KLA members resented losing their role as the army of Kosovo. For some time after the end of the war, many Serbs and some Albanians opposed to the KLA causes were killed. Many of the killings were blamed on KLA members. Intimidation by the KLA was also blamed for the flight of thousands of Serbs from Kosovo after the war ended [3].

Ex-KLA members also made efforts to spread insurgency into neighboring regions^{[citation needed]}. A new insurgent group called the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveda and Bujanovac, consisting of KLA veterans and local ethnic Albanians, began operating in the Preševo region of southern Serbia in 2000-2001. In the Republic of Macedonia, a new organization also named UÇK (this time standing for "National Liberation Army" in Albanian) took up arms against the Slav-dominated government. In early 2002, Greece was on stand-by after pro-Albanian activities had again crossed over the border; these incidents however, attracted little international attention.

The KLA legacy remains powerful within Kosovo. Its former members still play a major role in Kosovar politics; its former political head Hashim Thaci is now the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the prime minister of Kosovo since January 2008, one of the province's leading political opposition parties. Ramush Haradinaj, a former KLA regional leader, served briefly as Prime Minister of Kosovo before he turned himself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague to stand trial on war crimes charges [4]. The KLA's former military head, Agim Çeku, is the current Prime Minister of Kosovo. This has caused some controversy in Serbia, as Belgrade regards him as a war criminal, though he was never indicted by the Hague tribunal [5].

Several former KLA members have been indicted on war crimes charges. Fatmir Limaj, one of the senior commanders of the KLA to have gone through a trial process in The Hague, was acquitted of all charges in November 2005 [6]. He is now a key member of the opposition. Another KLA member, Haradin Bala, was also indicted by the ICTY at the same time for having participated in the detention of Serb civilians and perceived Albanian collaborators at the Lapusnik Prison Camp, where Bala was a prison guard commander [7]. He was found guilty of torture, cruel treatment, and murder, and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment [8]. His appeal against the verdict is still pending [9].

[edit] Crimes

Main article: 1998-present persecution of non-Albanians in Kosovo

There have been widespread reports of war crimes committed by the KLA both during and after the conflict. These have been directed against both Serbs, other ethnic minorities (principally Roma) and against ethnic Albanians accused of collaborating with the Serb authorities. [10] According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW):

The KLA was responsible for serious abuses… including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state. [11]

It is also believed that the KLA has played a key role in the ethnic cleansing, kidnappings and murder of Serbs and other ethnic minorities after the end of the war. HRW writes:

Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes. [12]

The KLA is also accused of intentionally provoking attacks by Yugoslav security forces against civilian targets by, for example, staging attacks from villages, knowing that the response would create bad publicity for the government forces in the international media:

The KLA… engaged in military tactics in 1998 and 1999 that put civilians at risk. KLA units sometimes staged an ambush or attacked police or army outposts from a village and then retreated, exposing villagers to revenge attacks. Large massacres sometimes ensued, helping publicize the KLA's cause and internationalize the conflict. [13]

Following the end of the war several of the leading figures in the KLA have been convicted of war crimes by the ICTY, including crimes against humanity (torture, murder, kidnapping and rape). [14][15] In 2005 the then ‘Prime Minister’ of Kosovo and former KLA commander, Ramush Haradinaj, was indicted together with two of his lieutenants on 37 counts of war crimes. According to the ICTY he was responsible for a plot to drive out Serbs and other ethnic minorities from Kosovo through a campaign of murder, rape and torture. [16] Despite this, Ramush Haradinaj remains popular with many Kosovo Albanians. [17]

The exact number of victims of the KLA is not known. According to a Serbian government report, from January 1, 1998 to June 10, 1999 the KLA killed 988 people and kidnapped 287; in the period from June 10, 1999 to November 11, 2001, when NATO took control in Kosovo, 847 were reported to have been killed and 1,154 kidnapped. This comprised both civilians and security force personnel: of those killed in the first period, 335 were civilians, 351 soldiers, 230 police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of killed civilians were Serbs, 230 Albanians, and 18 of other nationalities. Following the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo in June 1999, all casualties were civilians, the vast majority being Serbs.^[2] According to Human Rights Watch, as “many as one thousand Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing since June 12, 1999.” [18]

Carla Del Ponte, a long-time ICTY chief prosecutor claimed in her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals that there were instances of organ trafficking in 1999 after the end of the Kosovo War. These allegations were dismissed by Kosovan and Albanian authorities as fabrications while the ICTY stated no substantial evidence supporting the allegations was brought to the court.^[21][22] Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into Del Ponte's claims and announced it had additional evidence on the matter. ^[23]

[edit] Armament

It is believed that the KLA acquired .50 BMG Barrett M82 sniper rifles through its sympathizers in the United States (according to the documentary The Brooklyn Connection).

[edit] See also

• Enver Hoxha#Kosovo and Albanian nationalism
• Serbian-Albanian Conflict
• Kosovo War
• Albanians in Kosovo
• Operation Horseshoe
• List of designated terrorist organizations
• David Hicks
• Albanian National Army
• Ries Kiet

[edit] References

[edit] General references

• "KLA Action Fuelled NATO Victory", Jane's Defence Weekly, 16 June 1999
• "The KLA: Braced to Defend and Control", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 April 1999
• "Kosovo's Ceasefire Crumbles As Serb Military Retaliates", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 February 1999
• "Another Balkan Bloodbath? Part Two", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 March 1998
• "Albanians Attack Serb Targets", Jane's Defence Weekly, 4 September 1996
• "The Kosovo Liberation Army and the Future of Kosovo", James H. Anderson and James Phillips, 05/13/1999, Heritage Foundation, Heritage Foundation (Washington, USA)

[edit] External links

• [19] The New York Times arcive of articles on the KLA from 1990-2003.
• Human Right's Watch
• The KLA: braced to defend and control Jane's
• Intelligence Resources page on KLA Federation of American Scientists
• Kosovo's Army in Waiting TIME
• The Kosovo Liberation Army: Does Clinton Policy Support Group with Terror, Drug Ties? - From 'Terrorists' to 'Partners' (United States Senate Republican Policy Committee)
• Independence for Kosova: For the KLA - against the Serbian army, Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee)
• CRIGHTON, A (ed) (2003): Macedonia: The Conflict and the Media. Macedonian Institute for Media. Skopje. (also covering Southern Central Serbia) [20]
• GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA (2003): White Book on KLA (Part 1, Part 2)
• INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: "The Kosovo Liberation Army" - Volume 4, Issue 7 - August 1998 [21]
• INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: "The Kosovo Liberation Army" - Volume 4, Issue 7 - August 1998[22]
• KLA-NATO Demilitarization and transformation agreement.
• KOSOVAPRESS News agency organized by then KLA, and now close to the Democratic Party of Kosovo
• MIPT Knowledge Base. Entry about KLA [23]
• SOCIALISM TODAY: "The KLA and the struggle for Kosovar self-determination" [24]
• KLA and War on Terror
• MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base Profile entry on KLA
• photographic evidence of KLA, Croatian HVA and Bosniak atrocities against Serbian population