Fr Sava: Time has come for Kosovo Albanian leaders to finally say what kind of society they want

KiM-Info Newsletter 26-08-05

KIM Info-Service, Aug 26, 2005

Commentary by Fr. Sava Janjic

Admiral Gregory Johnson and Fr. Sava Janjic. Fr. Sava shows to NATO commander Admiral Johnson (USA) remains of burned icons and crosses from the church of St. Nicholas in Pristina destroyed in March 2004. "As a reminder that such acts of barbarity must never be allowed to happen again, I give you this piece of a burned cross depicting an angel. At this moment in time, it's the most precious and moving thing I can give you," said Fr. Sava (archive photo KIM Info, click to open photo in larger format)

Six years after the war we are back at the beginning. After all the efforts made by the international community to establish a peaceful and safe surrounding for all inhabitants of Kosovo, we are facing a situation in which some former UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) warlords are openly threatening the most influential Christian religious institution in Kosovo and NATO troops, and producing libelous accusations with the clear goal of inciting ethnic hatred and instigating new riots in Kosovo.

Are the inhabitants of Kosovo going to follow these new incitations to hatred and believe these individuals despite their highly questionable moral credentials, or will they demonstrate wisdom, listen to the words of their international friends, and choose the way towards prosperous future?

After the most recent threats of the chief of the KLA veterans in western Kosovo, Avdyl Mushkolaj, international factors in Kosovo reacted promptly and made it clear that the language of hatred will not be tolerated. In a very clear and straightforward letter, DSRSG Larry Rossin, the former chief of US Mission in Kosovo and a senior US diplomat dealing with the Balkans, clearly explained that words of Mushkolaj published in "Epoka e Re" seriously "undercut great efforts made by PISG, religious figures and citizens of good will to bring the Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb communities together".

Rossin, who is a frequent visitor of Visoki Decani Monastery, is well acquainted with the role of this community during and after the war, and has made tremendous efforts with UNMIK chief Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen to help the monastery establish contacts with moderate Albanians. The letters by the OSCE chief in Kosovo Werner Wnendt and the Contact Group representatives equally emphasized that future of Kosovo is not in hatred, and that the media must take responsibility for building better future rather than leading society astray.

The preposterous accusations of Avdyl Mushkolaj and the systematic media campaign directed against the Serbian Orthodox Church and Kosovo Serbs by Muhamed Mavraj ("Epoka e Re" editor-in-chief) come at a most sensitive moment in Kosovo when the international community is getting ready to make a comprehensive assessment how much Kosovo society has progressed with respect to minority rights and freedoms, and how much is it mature for a democratic future in Europe. Therefore, it is now up to Kosovo Albanian political leaders, intellectuals and representatives of religious communities to clearly state whether they see the future of Kosovo in the dark visions of Avdyl Mushkolaj and other extremists responsible for so much evil that has happened to both Serbs and Albanians, or whether they see the future in tolerance, peace and development of a truly democratic society.

Admiral Harry Ulrich and Gen. Kermabon during the visit of high officers of the
NATO HQ in Naples to Decani Monastery pledged full support and protection of
Christian Holy Sites in Kosovo Province (click to open in larger format)

Regrettably, not one Kosovo Albanian leader so far has spoken out and distanced himself from these words of evil aimed against the Church. That is why Bishop Teodosije, the abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery, who has made tremendous efforts with his brethren in recent months to open a dialogue and build confidence with many prominent Kosovo Albanians, wrote a letter to UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Peterson asking him to reiterate appeals and call on Kosovo Albanians to come out with a clear position on the kind of society and future they really want.

Now, before opening a more intensive dialogue on the future status of Kosovo, it is essential that Kosovo Albanian leaders publicly and openly say whether are they ready to recognize the right of the Serbian Orthodox Church, its holy sites and its faithful to survive in Kosovo, and preserve their identity within Kosovo society or whether they, like Avdyl Mushkolaj and others who directly work against future of their own people, think that Christian sites must be destroyed and all remaining Serbs expelled from the Province.

At the same time the serious question remains how long the citizens of Kosovo, regardless of their ethnicity, will remain hostages of the extremists who are primarily responsible for bringing shame to all Kosovo Albanians by presenting them in front of the world as destroyers of Christian churches, as arsonists and looters. Mushkolaj, who is strongly suspected of being directly responsible for three armed attacks on Decani Monastery and Italian troops guarding it (two in 2000 and one in 2004), as well as other extremists of the same orientation, who have destroyed 150 Christian sites and murdered many innocent civilians, both Serbs and Albanians, feel that they have immunity in Kosovo, and openly challenge international authorities and the Kosovo Government, thus working on the destabilization of the Province. By tolerating their activities, both the Kosovo Government and the UN Mission risks making all good efforts to put Kosovo on the track towards European future futile and unsuccessful. The best proof of this is last year's riots, directly organized by Mushkolaj and others. In just two days, 30 Christian holy sites were destroyed and 4,000 non-Albanians were expelled from their homes. So far the main organizers of the pogrom have not been brought to justice although their names and other illegal activities are well known, and they continue undermining Kosovo's stability.

Well being of Orthodox Christian sites in Kosovo and respect of human rights
and freedoms of non-Albanian population are the most evident indicator how much
progress Kosovo society has made and how much it is mature for European future

If no one among Kosovo Albanians is ready to confront this negative image of Kosovo, which is becoming more and more evident in the world media, the future of Kosovo society is really at stake because no matter what its status, with such perceptions and retrograde views the province will remain the pariah of Europe. Therefore, the problem of Mushkolaj and the part of Kosovo Albanian press which vents hatred every day, is not just a problem of Serbs but, first and foremost, of Kosovo Albanians themselves. Whether a community like Visoki Decani Monastery and other Christian sites can survive in Kosovo today with their people will be the best indicator whether Kosovo is moving in the direction of progress or not. Any attempt to paint a rosy picture of the Province while ethnic violence and discrimination continue in unimpeded will be definitely be insufficient to convince anyone in the democratic world.

In short, Kosovo cannot find its way towards prosperous future as long as criminal structures constantly wrap themselves in national flag in order to conceal their activities, and present themselves as champions of the national cause. It is exactly these individuals and groups who keep most of the people in the dark using the methods of unethical media. The fact that many do not see such a society as being mature enough for self-determination is the direct consequence of this problem, and not some sort of conspiracy against the Albanians themselves. If Kosovo Albanians had behaved in a more responsible way after the war and distanced themselves from criminal structures, the issue of Kosovo's future status would not be as problematic as it now is.

That is why the Serbian Orthodox Church, which wants to remain the part of Kosovo society and build common future with all ethnic and religious groups who live in Kosovo, is renewing its public appeal to all peace-loving Kosovo Albanians to clearly chose between the past and the future, and between hatred and tolerance. Depending how Kosovo Albanians will react to this appeal and to the appeals of the international community, which constantly call on them to improve living conditions for non-Albanian communities, the future of Kosovo will be either in the direction of Europe or towards further isolation and poverty.

Bishop Teodosije requests urgent intervention of UNMIK chief and KFOR

KiM-Info Newsletter 26-08-05

Avdyl Mushkolaj continues threats against Decani Monastery and calls for open violence against Church and Serbian people

KIM Info-Service, Visoki Decani, August 26, 2005

Avdyl Mushkolaj, the head of the Kosovo Liberation Army veterans association for the areas of Decani and Pec, today continued with his impudent and aggressive attacks on the pages of the Pristina Albanian language daily "Epoka e Re" against Visoki Decani Monastery and the Serbian Orthodox Church as a whole. Mushkolaj, who is responsible for the three past armed attacks on Decani Monastery, uses a series of lies and fictions to consciously and in planned fashion incite hatred against the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian people in general, thus further endangering security throughout the region and acting directly against the efforts of the international community and Kosovo institutions to enhance relations between the communities in Kosovo and Metohija.

Without doubt this is a well-organized propaganda operation with the purpose of inciting hatred and further crimes, preventing the return of the Serbian population and the building of a democratic society in which all citizens will be equal and free. One wonders in whose name and for whom Mushkolaj is actively working and how much support these retrograde and aggressive stances enjoy among the Albanian community in the Province.

Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan, vicar of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren and abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery, sent a letter today to UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen asking him to undertake urgent measures to prevent the use of the media for systematic fanning of hatred and calls for violence against the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful. Bishop Teodosije has also asked the KFOR commander in chief and local commanders to reinforce security because Mushkolaj and his extremist group may attempt to jeopardize security of the Monastery and KFOR to which he threatened too. The Monastery has also sent a letter to the headquarters of NATO command headquarters in Naples, which has demonstrated special interest in this case after Admiral Ulrich, during a recent visit to Decani, emphasized that the preservation of valuable cultural monuments is a priority in the engagement of NATO forces in Kosovo.

In his letter to Mr. Petersen, Bishop Teodosije emphasized that the behavior of extremists who are directly responsible for last year's March violence against Serbian civilians and holy shrines must not be tolerated any longer, and that Kosovo citizens who want to live in peace and tolerance, regardless of their ethnicity, must not remain the hostages of those who live in their dark visions of hatred and intolerance. Such impudent use of the media to incite violence, the letter says, directly undermines the efforts of the international community and Kosovo institutions to achieve standards and tears down all efforts and results to date toward the building of ethnic confidence. If this campaign continues without sanctions, the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija will be even more discouraged from participating in the institutions of Kosovo society, Bishop Teodosije writes in his letter.

Unfortunately, the Bishop writes, so far not one representative of Kosovo institutions, Albanian intellectual or representative of a religious community has raised his voice against this unholy campaign directed against the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian people in this region, which is cause for serious concern. Bishop Teodosije goes on in his letter to ask Mr. Petersen to send an appeal to representatives of the Kosovo Albanians in all sectors of public life to indicate by their clear and unambiguous stance whether they see the future of Kosovo in ethnic hatred and violence or in the building of a democratic society in which all citizens will be equal and free.

Our engagement and good will in the process of reconciliation and building of peace in Kosovo and Metohija will directly depend on the stances the Albanian leaders will adopt with respect to this case and all previous attacks on the holy shrines of our Church and her faithful, Bishop Teodosije concludes in his letter to the UNMIK chief.

Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren and Bishop Teodosije will address the media regarding these developments and the issue of the restoration of Orthodox churches in Kosovoafter a meeting of all representatives of the Serbian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija and other institutions. The meeting will take place at 2:00 p.m. in the Rectory building in Kosovska Mitrovica.

UN calls for "compromise solution" in Kosovo

ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) 24-Aug-05 15:53

Pristina, 24 August (AKI) - The next three to four months will be "crucial" for Kosovo, as talks on the final status of the Muslim-majority province - under UN control since 1999 - are likely to start before the end of this year, the United Nations' chief administrator in Kosovo, Soren Jessen Petersen said on Wednesday, calling for a "comprise solution" in the province. His remarks come just two days after the UN special envoy to Kosovo, Kai Eade, said he was "disappointed" over progress in implementing democratic and human rights standards there.

"If everything goes as planned, it is very likely that the status talks would begin before the end of the year", Petersen told journalists in Pristina. Eide will soon submit a report to the UN Security Council on the progress achieved in Kosovo multi-ethnic relations and the rule of law, and in implementing the international democratic and human rights standards which would be the basis for starting the talks.

Before that, Petersen emphasised, the provisional Kosovo government should concentrate on four key issues: implementation of these standards and improvement of the position of the province's minorities; decentralization of municipalities; and transfer of power from the UN administration to local authorities, and economic revival.

Kosovo ethnic Albanian-dominated government has made efforts to facilitate the return of refugees, Petersen said, adding that much more had to be done. Over 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since 1999, but only 6,000 have returned so far.

Ethnic Albanians, who make a 1.7 million majority against remaining 80,000-100,000 Serbs, demand independence and have grown impatient over the length of time it is taking to decide on Kosovo's future status. The Serbian minority lives in separate areas watched over by peackeepers. Relations between the two groups remain tense, and clashes between Albanians and ethnic Serbs in March 2004 left 19 people dead.

Petersen said that Kosovo ethnic Albanian leaders and Serbian leaders in Belgrade should sit down at the negotiating table and seek a compromise solution for the province. "In Belgrade they say No to independence, in Pristina some say that nothing but independence is an option. They must sit down and come to a compromise solution," Petersen concluded.

Last October, Serbia's prime minister Vojislav Kostunica's government urged Kosovo Serbs to boycott parliamentary elections, because the international community had rejected his proposal to grant Serbs local self-rule, with their own police and administration.

The UN peackeeping force in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Kosovo's provisional government instead came up with am alternative plan, proposing a pilot program of ethnically mixed municipalities, which Serbs rejected.

Kosovo: A dangerous cosmetic salon

NEW EUROPE, August 21-27, 2005, Issue Number 639

Multiethnic character of Kosovo province has suffered dramatically

"If we do not get our independence, we will get so upset and frustrated that we will bring hell upon Serbs, other non-Albanians and the internationals in Kosovo" - this paraphrase could sum up bluntly the stance of the province's majority Albanians as the world evaluates whether the province has made enough progress to start talks on its future status.

By Aleksandar Mitic

Indeed, as the UN secretary general's special envoy, Kai Eide enters the last stage of his evaluation of human rights and governance standards in the southern Serbian province, the international community should ensure that the province's majority Albanian community starts implementing those standards instead of threatening with violence, an anti-European and anti-civilised "argument" for independence.

Eide's report is expected in September and could determine whether or not enough progress has been made in the province to begin status talks. Given the poor progress or simply a lack of it from 1999 to date, it was no surprise to hear from Eide hints of profound dissatisfaction.

"Quite honestly, I would have liked to have seen much more progress and political maturity in Kosovo among its leaders," Eide said in an interview recently. His comments were echoed by the EU's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, as well as by the Contact Group on Kosovo.

These criticisms had a cool water effect on both the Kosovo Albanian leadership and the UN administration in the province, which has for years argued that progress was overwhelming, sending to New York's Security Council pink-coloured reports and citing Potemkin-like examples. The Kosovo Albanian leadership believed that the laissez-faire policy of the international community towards their unique objective - secession from Serbia - would last forever and at any cost.

They could hardly be criticised for that perception after so little has been done to punish those responsible among them for the spread of hatred in the province, the violent expulsion of some 220,000 Serbs, the hundreds of cases of ethnic-motivated murders of Serbs and other non-Albanians, the lack of freedom of movement for the minorities, the export of violence in neighbouring western FYROM and southern Serbia. Or for the three-day anti-Serb ethnic cleansing campaign of March 2004, in which some 4,000 Serbs were displaced, 30 monasteries destroyed, dozens were killed and hundreds wounded.

The multiethnic character of the province has suffered dramatically. Out of 220,000 Serbs who have fled the violence of Albanian extremists since 1999, only 6,027 have come back to their homes. For years, the Albanian leadership and the UN administration cited "lack of security," they now cite "lack of money." There is no freedom of movement for non-Albanians.

There is however "legal chaos," as written and testified by the international ombudsman for Kosovo, Marek Anthony Nowicki in his mid-July report. According to Nowicki's report, human rights are protected only on paper, while "there is no real mechanism to put that in practice."

Indeed, discrimination on ethnic grounds is visible in every aspect of life in Kosovo.

In local courts and hospitals - where access is largely unavailable for the Serbs and the Roma.

In the municipalities - where Serbs who bring documents in the Cyrillic letter face Albanians employed in the administration who often reject them as "illegible and unclear."

In the fields and the food markets - where proper work, the cultivating of fields and selling of agricultural products at local markets is extremely difficult for the Serbs and the Roma, although this is their main source of revenue.

In Serb graveyards - many of which have been destroyed and are impossible to visit, let alone to repair.

In Orthodox churches and monasteries - 150 of which have been destroyed since 1999, many are still endangered and need specific international protection.

In the maps - where the UN regulation 2000/43 under which geographic names in Kosovo cannot be changed into "Albanised" names has not been respected. Thus, the Serb-populated town of Leposavic has become Albanik and Obilic has become Kastriot.

Even in official tourist guides - where centuries of Serbian heritage in Kosovo have been simply wiped out and the term "Serb" is nowhere to be read.

Faced with all this discrimination, some 120,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo and living in either northern Kosovo or in the so-called enclaves - ghettos heavily protected by NATO troops - have called for a decentralisation of the province.

Decentralisation, a key existential - not a political - question for the survival of the Kosovo Serbs and other non-Albanian communities would allow them to manage justice, police, health, culture, social affairs and education without fear of discrimination by the Albanian majority.

Yet, despite its importance and its designation as a key priority following the massive anti-Serb violence of March 2004, the decentralisation process has not even started as of August 2005.

Faced with the prospect of Kosovo's failures, international officials visiting Pristina during the evaluation process have begun to use the phrase "need for compromise" as a keyword in messages sent to the province's Albanian majority.

There are indeed numerous strong arguments against an independence of Kosovo: it is a maximalist solution in which one side - the Albanian community - gets it all, and the other side - the Kosovo Serbs and Serbia - loses it all. It would create a dangerous precedent for secessionist movements around the world, endanger international law and create a completely new state from the scratch, thus breaking up the most multiethnic country in the region - Serbia.

Furthermore, Kosovo is simply not viable as a state. Its economy is in ruins, it exports less than 3 percent of the value of its imports, lives on donations, has the largest unemployment rate of any European region.

Instead of implementing key standards, the Kosovo Albanian leadership and the UN mission chief in Kosovo are putting these days their last all-round efforts to artificially paint a "multiethnic success story" in the province. Kosovo's cosmetic changes and threats of violence if ethnically-exclusive political projects are not achieved should however be firmly and decisively rejected as recipes for both regional and European instability.

Aleksandar Mitic is co-author of the widely-read "Kosovo Solution Series," lecturer at the University of Belgrade and is an analyst at the Institute of Serbia and Montenegro in Brussels

Much has to be done to create safe living conditions for Serbs in Kosovo

RELIEF WEB (SWITZERLAND)

Source: Government of Serbia
Date: 23 Aug 2005

Belgrade, Aug 23, 2005 - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica met today with the UN Special Envoy for Implementation of Standards in Kosovo-Metohija, Ambassador Kai Eide. The two officials discussed key issues related to the current situation in the province.

Eide voiced his dissatisfaction with the latest developments, especially with a halt in the talks on decentralisation. He said that much has to be done to create safe living conditions for Serbs and for their return. He urged all parties in the process to do their level best to make an initial progress. He added that is especially important that Belgrade gives an active contribution to the decentralisation process.

The Serbian Prime Minister agreed with Eide's assessment of the decentralisation process and voiced fear that the international community has tacitly abandoned the proclaimed "standards before status" policy. Serbia is not satisfied with that and it expects that any change in the policy towards the province be made public.

According to Kostunica, the talks on Kosovo's future status can hardly take place when no progress has been made in the areas in which at least a minimum of standards should be met. In that sense, Belgrade is willing to give its full contribution to reaching a consensus on the decentralisation issue. Serbia has always been interested in making progress on this issue, and there is still time to break the impasse, the Prime Minister stressed, highlighting that Belgrade insists on essential, and not fictitious progress.

Kostunica added that Belgrade is ready for direct dialogue with the leaders of Kosovo Albanians on all open issues.

Ambassador Kai Eide did not specify the deadline for the completion of his report, giving priority to its content. He did not rule out the possibility of visiting Belgrade and Pristina once more.

Kosovo Dispatch: Paradigm Slip

THE NEW REPUBLIC (USA) by Alkman Granitsas

Post date 04.08.05 | Issue date 04.11.05

The first sign of ethnic tension confronts me just a few miles from the border as I drive north into Kosovo. In the town of Kacanik, I pass an old Serbian Orthodox chapel. It is surrounded by a high fence and barbed wire. There are three sandbag bunkers around the chapel, a double row of cement and steel tank traps at the entrance, and a guard post inside the fence. The grounds look more like an armed camp than a place of worship. Later, I learn the church has been all but abandoned. Once, there was a small community of Orthodox Serbs living in Kacanik, but they have either fled or been killed by Albanians. So the chapel sits empty. And yet, it remains guarded night and day by international peacekeepers, to protect it from mobs of Muslim Albanians.

Almost six years ago, the international community--the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and an alphabet soup of NGOs--descended upon Kosovo to protect Albanians from the rampaging Serb-dominated Yugoslav army. Since then, the army has been driven out, and almost all of the 800,000 Albanian refugees have returned; Kosovo has been touted as a success story and a model for other peacekeeping operations.

But the abandoned chapel in Kacanik--and dozens of others like it--suggests that Kosovo is far from a success. The tolerant and multiethnic society the peacekeepers came here to nurture and protect is a fiction. Today, their mission is failing: Since the United Nations and the 17,000 foreign troops in the Kosovo peacekeeping mission (kfor) came to town, a reverse ethnic cleansing has taken place. Tens of thousands of Serbs have left the province after harassment and violence at the hands of Albanians. Worse, the majority Albanian community now practices the same kind of brutal discrimination against Serbs that the Albanians suffered for so many years.

Ethnic tensions in Kosovo are nothing new. In the former Yugoslavia, Belgrade alternately tried conciliation or repression to curb the rising discontent of the Albanian community, which constitutes a majority in the province. In 1974, Kosovo was granted considerable autonomy; in 1981, after riots led by Kosovar Albanians demanding full republic status for the province, between 500 and 1,000 Albanians were killed in a brutal crackdown. "Kosovo is the most difficult problem in the Balkans," says Dusan Batakovic, a Serbian diplomat and expert on Kosovo. "In Bosnia, you were dealing with people who spoke the same language and shared the same ethnic identity. In Kosovo, you have an enormous ethnic distance."

By the late '80s, nationalism was growing in Kosovo. After Slobodan Milosevic's rise to power, he stripped Kosovo of its autonomous status and dissolved the provincial parliament. In reaction, Kosovar Albanians declared themselves independent.

Unfortunately, the international community then missed the first of several opportunities to prevent bloodshed. In 1991, Kosovar Albanians petitioned the European Union to recognize their independence. It did not. A year later, Bosnia declared its independence, touching off a brutal interethnic war. Everyone knew Kosovo would be next, and, as the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords were being hammered out, the Kosovar Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, begged members of the international community to include Kosovo in the discussions. They did not.

Within months, a guerrilla war in Kosovo would begin between Serbs and Albanians. When neighboring Albania collapsed, offering Albanian Kosovar guerrillas access to heavy arms, the Kosovar Albanians stepped up their attacks, and, in 1998 and 1999, the Serb forces responded in kind with increasing violence. This violence often targeted civilians, as the Serbs emptied and destroyed whole Albanian villages in a misguided attempt to isolate the guerrillas from their sympathizers. The international community was finally stirred to action, with the United Nations passing resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Kosovo and the Clinton administration, along with nato, bombing Serb military forces. In response, the Serbs initially increased the pace of their ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, driving 800,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes, but the air war ultimately forced Serbia to relent and to pull its troops out. In 1999, kfor was created.

But, by then, the foundation for today's problems in Kosovo had been laid. By not intervening until so much blood had already been shed, rather than trying to settle the Kosovo dispute earlier, the international community had allowed tension in the province to rise so high that it could never be stuffed back in the bottle. Had the international community better handled the dissolution from the start, "tens of thousands of lives [would] have been saved," Nenad Sebek, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe, said in a speech last June. More specifically, the nato bombing campaign set a dangerous precedent--that the international community would intervene on the side of guerrillas against a sovereign government. And today, both Serbs and Albanians in the province believe that, because of this history, the world will soon allow Kosovo to become independent. Kosovar Albanians believe time is on their side, and no amount of U.N. confidence-building programs bringing together Serbs and Albanians will change that mentality.

Convinced they can act with impunity and tired of waiting for independence, Albanians in the province are growing restless. Last year, violent race riots erupted in Kosovo, revealing the ethnic tensions that lie just below the surface in Kosovo. For three days, a pogrom against the Serb minority raged out of control while many of the kfor troops stayed in their camps, doing nothing to intervene. By the time it was over, 19 people were dead, thousands were injured, and almost 600 buildings had been destroyed.

The riots were the inevitable outcome of an escalating anti-Serb campaign. Long before, Serbs warned of discrimination and violence. Serbs frequently have complained of threats against them by Albanian goons and attacks on their homes by Albanian thugs, who force the Serbs out and resettle Albanians in their place. Late last year, in fact, the United Nations reported several cases in the town of Obili*c where Albanian families reoccupied former Serb homes, even after those homes had been restored for the Serbs by the United Nations. Meanwhile, Serb children and municipal workers have often had to be escorted to school and to work by armed guards, for fear of attacks; the website of the Serb Orthodox church in Kosovo displays photos of a Serb teenager bludgeoned to death, with blood oozing from his scalp. It's not surprising, then, that many Serbs are fleeing Kosovo. Estimates of the number of Serbs that have left the province in the last six years range from 65,000 to 345,000. In the Kosovar capital of Pristina alone, there were some 40,000 Serbs before 1999. Today, there are fewer than 100.

The town of Mitrovica has been one of the flashpoints. The town is divided by the shallow Ibar River. From this point south, the province is predominantly Albanian, to the north it is predominantly Serb. Indeed, the northern part of Mitrovica remains very much a part of Serbia. On the streets, Serbian is the lingua franca, the Serbian dinar is legal currency, and all the public institutions are still funded by Belgrade.

It was near Mitrovica that three Albanian children--who the Albanian media erroneously reported had been chased by Serbs with dogs--drowned in the Ibar River in March 2004, touching off the riots. Now, the main bridge connecting the two halves of Mitrovica resembles cold war Checkpoint Charlie. Cement barricades force vehicles to drive a zigzag through the barriers, and miles of concertina wire stretch along both banks of the river. The only vehicles going across belong either to the United Nations or to kfor. While the south of Mitrovica is a teeming city of some 90,000 people (nearly all Albanians), the north feels like a refugee encampment: Over the past five years, and during the riots, thousands of Serbs have come here for refuge. On the previously generous sidewalks, small kiosks set up by Serb refugees stand cheek by jowl. Virtually the only Albanians living on this side of the river are in three apartment blocks just left of the bridge, guarded by more kfor troops, concertina wire, and sandbag bunkers.

In a converted high school gymnasium, I go to see Serb refugees displaced by the riots. There are 50 in all, sleeping on simple cots beneath basketball hoops. On one wall, a set of pull-up bars has been turned into a temporary clothes rack. A balance beam is being used as a divider to separate the cots of one family from another. Their houses, in a town south of Mitrovica, were destroyed by mobs but are now being rebuilt. Still, they won't go home. "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of us will not return because the U.N., kfor, and the police have not been able to guarantee our safety," Krsto Todorovic, a 58-year-old, tells me. "We are asking for safety. Only if that happens is there a chance we will go back.... It's better that they just kill my wife and me because we have already lived our lives."

In fact, it is not Kosovo but a neighboring region that is the Balkan success story. Of the past decade's three peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans--in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia--only one, in Macedonia, largely avoided the brutal, interethnic wars of the other two. In the case of Macedonia, international intervention came early, through mediation of the Ohrid peace agreement in 2001 that laid out a framework for dealing with minority rights before a full-scale civil war. In Kosovo and in Bosnia, the peace agreements were just holding arrangements that came only after wars had already begun and pogroms against minorities had started. "In Ohrid, the international community finally learned its lesson," agrees the new head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen. But, for Kosovo, it is a lesson that has come too late.

UN digs up Kosovo graves in search for missing Serbs

Reuters, Wednesday August 24, 09:09 PM

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - U.N. forensics experts have begun exhuming 41 graves in the Kosovo capital believed to contain the remains of Serbs who went missing after the arrival of NATO troops six years ago.

Marked with sticks or scrap metal, the graves were located within the grounds of a seemingly abandoned Serbian cemetery, overrun with weeds and next to a railway line.

The head of the U.N. missing persons and forensics office said he believed they were the victims of a spate of kidnappings and murders in the majority Albanian province at the time of the withdrawal of Serb forces and NATO's deployment in June 1999.

"A number of Serbs went missing upon the arrival of KFOR troops, about 50 in the Pristina area alone," Jose-Pablo Baraybar told Reuters at the grave site, referring to the NATO-led Kosovo Force that still patrols the province.

"It is highly likely that people ended up dead in the street. They were collected, taken to the hospital, went through the mortuary and were then simply disposed of in this place."

Behind him, forensics experts in white body suits looked on as a digger scraped awkwardly at the edges of a large pit.

Seventeen graves were marked with Serb names, including those once listed as residents of a local retirement home.

Some were found wrapped in body bags or hospital sheets. One grave was marked with a scrap of metal from a washing machine.

Around 500 Serbs and 2,400 ethnic Albanians are still missing from the 1998-99 war in the southern Serbian province, now governed by the United Nations.

NATO bombed for 78 days to drive out Serb forces accused of killing and expelling thousands of ethnic Albanian civilians as they fought to crush a rebel insurgency.

But the deployment of 60,000 NATO soldiers failed to prevent a wave of revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, who account for 90 percent of the province's 2 million people.

Kosovo's Albanians expect to win formal independence from Serbia in talks the West hopes to open this year. Serbia says the mountain-ringed province was the birthplace of the Serb nation and can never become independent.

Talks to determine Kosovo's future should start by year's end, U.N. official says

Associated Press, Aug 23, 2005 1:45 PM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo's U.N. administrator said Tuesday that talks to determine this disputed province's future should not be delayed and should start by the year's end. The Serbian prime minister rejected such proposals.

"I do not see any gains in delaying status talks," warned Soren Jessen-Petersen, the top U.N. official in the province. He said the next three months in Kosovo are the "most crucial months in this crucial year."

Kosovo has been disputed between the province's ethnic Albanian majority, which want full independence, and Serb minority and Serbia, which insist the province remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Talks to determine its future depend on the province's ability to meet internationally set standards on democracy, rule of law and civil rights for the Serb minority.

Another U.N. envoy, Kai Eide, appointed in June by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review progress, said Monday that more work is needed to improve tense relations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbs before talks can begin.

Serbia's prime minister told Eide in Belgrade on Tuesday that talks on the contested province's future status cannot start before civil right of minority Kosovo Serbs are protected.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica "expressed fear that the international community is abandoning its proclaimed 'standards before status' policy" for Kosovo, the government said in a statement issued after his talks with Eide. "Our side is not happy with this."

Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since a 78-day alliance-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

Ethnic tensions in Kosovo remain high six years after the end of the conflict. About 100,000 minority Serbs mostly live in isolated enclaves, fearing attacks from ethnic Albanians extremists.

Jessen-Petersen said Kosovo needs to focus on minority rights, the economy and reform of local government in the coming months before Annan can appoint an envoy to mediate between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbia.

Contact Group, UNMIK, OSCE condemn hate speech in "Epoka e re" against Decani Monastery

KiM-Info Newsletter 23-08-05

Contact Group, UNMIK, OSCE condemn hate speech in "Epoka e re" against Decani Monastery - Epoka e re continues with lies and accusations

KIM Info-service, August 23, 2005

In a meeting held in Pristina on August 19, the representatives of the Contact Group expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the Pristina daily in Albanian - Epoka e Re - to publish, "without any editorial comment, the language of ethnic hatred towards the Serb historical monastery of Decani", it is said in a statement published by the US Office in Pristina today.

Expressing their revolt towards the use of language in this article, the Contact Group representatives said that "the repetition of such inappropriate and ungrounded statements is a irresponsible practice for journalists in any democratic society".

Epoka e Re published today a letter by the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Werner Wnendt (Ger). Addressing "Epoka e re" publisher Muhamet Mavraj, Wnendt expressed his "concern over provocative, hate speech and inflammatory allegations that are made against the inhabitants of the monastery of Decani, with no argument given to support these accusations".

Beside the Contact Group and the OSCE head of mission, Larry Rossin (US) (Political deputy of the UNMIK head in Kosovo) also sent a letter to Epoka e re. "First, I would like to express my disappointment with the fact that your paper published these statements, which are clearly ungrounded and aim at inciting ethnic hatred and mistrust. UNMIK has requested from TMC (Temporary Media Commissioner) to investigate whether this article presents a violation of the Code of Conduct,” reads the letter.

EPOKA E RE LAUNCHES NEW ACCUSATIONS

"Epoka e re" editor reacted to the criticism directed to his newspaper launching a new attack against the Monastery and accusing the monks of "spreading hatred against Albanians and accusations against Haradinaj family". As previous attacks these most recent allegations are false and completely ungrounded. Decani monks have never spread hatred against their Albanian neighbors and have only bore witness of their tradition and faith in Christ. In fact, last year during the March riots it was Ramush Haradinaj himself who called for restraint of rioters and stopped their attack on the monastery, which was highly appreciated by the international authorities. The monastery has also been praised by the local mayor who spoke about assistance given to Albanians during the war by the monks. Perhaps if anyone dishonors Haradinaj it is "Epoka e re" itself with this latest attempt to involve the former Prime minister into allegations of irresponsible individuals.

The firm position of the Serbian Orthodox Church is that the hate speech in press and media is unacceptable and is directly opposed to the policy of implementation of standards. Bishop Teodosije of Decani Monastery has many times so far said that although the monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery, built by a Serbian king, it is a cultural site in Kosovo and belongs to all citizens of the Province and the entire civilized world.

U.S. Diplomat Tells VOA Kosovo Albanians are Not Ready for Final Status Talks

VOICE OF AMERICA (USA)

The highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Kosovo told the Voice of America (VOA) Monday that local leaders are unprepared for talks to determine the final status of the province.

Philip Goldberg, head of the U.S. Office in Pristina, said "nothing has been done (by the Albanian leaders) to prepare for those negotiations." He also called for a unified stand among Albanian politicians on the issue of preparations for the talks.

Final status negotiations may begin this fall, if United Nations envoy Kai Eide finds that the overall situation in Kosovo is favorable.

Mr. Goldberg urged Kosovo Serbs to play their part by participating in the parliament and other self-governing institutions. He blamed the government in Belgrade for failing to play a constructive role in helping Kosovo Serbs' self-governing efforts.

Goldberg's interview was aired during today's Albanian language Ditari (Journal) program, which is broadcast each weekday from 6:00-6:30 p.m. local time (1700-1730 UTC) to audiences throughout the Balkans. VOA also transmits 10.5 hours a week in Albanian via shortwave.

UN Special Envoy says more must be done in Kosovo

RELIEF WEB (SWITZERLAND)

Source: Southeast European Times (USA)
Date: 22 Aug 2005

The UN's decision on whether to launch discussions on the final status of Kosovo depends on a report to be submitted this fall by special envoy Kai Eide. During his visit to Pristina last week, Eide said he shares the international community's concerns over the level of progress.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade

Kai Eide, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy tasked with assessing the implementation of standards in Kosovo, has wrapped up a visit to Pristina, that included meetings with President Ibrahim Rugova and other officials of the provisional government. In comments following the talks, he warned that much more must be done.

"I share many Western diplomats' concern" over the level of progress in Kosovo," Eide said during last week's trip, urging Kosovo authorities to launch a fierce battle against corruption and organised crime.

"I said before that I was not happy. I am disappointed with some talks I have had here and I am disappointed with certain visits I have made in the region, but I was also disappointed when I visited Belgrade, because I want to see things moving forward," the envoy said.

The return of refugees and displaced persons was one of the key topics on Eide's agenda. After a meeting with Kosovo Minister for Return and Communities Slavisa Petkovic, Eide said he knew that many people want to return and should be encouraged to do so.

He said that it was very important that Kosovo government representatives were trying to get closer to those returning to the province. He praised Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi's attempt to establish a dialogue with them by visiting the places to which they should return. At the same time, the envoy said, it is important to set up a dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.

Eide said that he could not discuss the final result of his report on the implementation of standards, which he will submit to Annan. The report will determine the UN Security Council's decision on launching talks on Kosovo's final status. Eide started his evaluation in early June and is to start putting together his report in September.

The commander of NATO's south wing, US Admiral Harry Ulrich, was also in Kosovo during Eide's visit. Ulrich said he had come to Pristina to assure the people and government that NATO favoured a peaceful and stable Kosovo.

In talks with Kosumi, Ulrich said that he was convinced KFOR was ready to realise its mission in Kosovo. For his part, Kosumi said that what had been achieved in Kosovo had largely been done by KFOR. He also stressed the government's determination to create a free and democratic society, one striving for EU and NATO integration.

Pristina Albanian language daily proclaims Serb monasteries are Albanian

KiM-Info Newsletter 23-08-05

Pristina Albanian language daily "Epoka e re" proclaims Serb monasteries are Albanian - Minister Haracija and his pamphlets

KIM Info Service, August 18, 2005

Attempts by some self-proclaimed Albanian historians to proclaim Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo as Albanian are nothing new. During persistent efforts to aggressively promote a new political and cultural identity in this region, Serbian Orthodox monasteries and other cultural and historical monuments have always been a stumbling block. Perhaps because stone and the images of the saints speak more clearly and convincingly than the nationalistic ideologues of the tragic times in which we live.

A series of articles has been appearing for days now in the Pristina Albanian language daily "Epoka e Re" (close to former KLA circles) under the byline of a certain Faton Mehmetaj which strive to "prove" in the most shameless fashion that not only are Serbian Orthodox monasteries such as the Pec Patriarchate, Gracanica and Visoki Decani in fact Albanian monuments "usurped by the Serbian occupiers" but that the Nemanjic dynasty itself was actually Albanian although later it was proclaimed to be Serb. For the serious and even amateur historian, the theory that the father of St. Sava and founder of the Nemanjic dynasty was not Stefan Nemanja but Stefan NIMANI can only provoke laughter. However, the fact that thus far none of the Albanian intellectuals in Kosovo have reacted to this nonsense and that this "theory" and others like it are being taught in schools and educational institutions is cause for concern, not because anyone in the civilized world will actually believe the stories of Faton Mehmetaj and his mentors at "Epoka e Re" but because articles such as this systematically generate hatred and scorn toward the Serbian people, the Orthodox Church and a culture that presumably has the right to exist in Kosovo regardless of the status the Province may have in the future.

The aforementioned series of articles began to appear on August 2 of this year and every day new chapters are appearing on the pages of "Epoka e Re" with increasingly aggressive titles. This is the same paper, by the way, which only days ago published threats by the local strongman Avdyl Muskolaj against the monks of Decani and KFOR, and is generally well known for its articles lanced with hatred and intolerance. We cannot help but wonder whether Kosovo society and those within it focused on a European future will ever react to such abuses of the press, which is increasingly becoming a tool for public demonization and mud-slinging directed at everything that the civilized world, as well as many honorable Albanians, actually respect? One also cannot help but wonder whether representatives of international institutions which are supposed to prevent the use of hate speech in the press (UNMIK decrees 2000/36 and 2000/37) are going to react to this series of articles written by anonymous and novice journalists?

Let's look at some of the subtitles of articles published in this series entitled "Monuments of Illyrian-Albanian culture forcibly converted to Serbian culture":

1. "Decani Monastery belongs to the Albanian clan of Gashi"
2. "Monasteries converted to Serbian culture take land from the citizens"
3. "Occupiers implement brutal policy of assimilation of Albanians"
4. "Serbian churches built on Albanian churches"
5. "Albanians preserved their language and customs despite occupation"
6. "Decani and surroundings: ancient tradition and culture"
7. "History based on falsified Serbian founding charters"
8. "Decani Monastery privileged to the detriment of Albanians"
9. "Serbian Church supports Ottoman Empire"
10. "Serbian Church has always provoked killing and wounding of Albanians"
11. "Serbian Church - the cradle of anti-Albanian policy"

As one is able to conclude just from the subtitles, this series of articles has nothing to do with the science of history but represents a most blatant example of "hate speech" and calls for the destruction and expulsion of the remaining Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. While officials of the Kosovo provisional government in Pristina and international administrators in Kosovo struggle to prove that standards are being implemented after all, in everyday life things continue as they were, especially in the proverbially unprofessional local press where apparently anyone can publish anything that occurs to him without any accountability or consequences.

Culture minister's attacks reflect lack of culture

Not long ago in the month of May one of the activities of Kosovo culture minister Astrit Haracija was distributing, without the knowledge of UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen, his "historical" pamphlet "Monuments of Kosova" in English. When a representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church taking part in a UNESCO meeting noticed that this brochure was being passed out in the UNESCO building itself and brought a sample of it to Petersen, the latter immediately ordered all copies of the pamphlet confiscated. Haracija allegedly later wrote a letter of apology directly to the UNMIK chief but the letter was never made public. International experts in the Ministry of Culture claim they had no idea the brochure was published and bore the seal of the UN mission, no less. Their explanations are rather unconvincing since a publication of this sort cannot be published and taken to Paris in the same plane as the UNMIK chief without someone asking what it was.

This publication, which was published with the seal of UNMIK and the Kosovo institutions, is especially interesting because it does not mention the Serbs at all. Moreover, it describes the existence of monuments "in the Byzantine-Kosovar style", presumably referring to Serbian and Orthodox monasteries and churches where, according to the pamphlet of the Ministry of Culture, "Kosovar Albanian Christians" prayed. To make the whole thing even more paradoxical, the pamphlet was distributed at a UNESCO donors' conference where the need to restore Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija was openly discussed. In order to illustrate what is in the brochure and to what extent the Kosovo Ministry of Culture is truly ready and competent to responsibly care for the cultural heritage in the Province, we cite the following passage (p. 8):

"In the old treasury of Albanian history, of culture and art respectively, Kosovars reflect the architectural realizations of Illyrian systems of fortified dwelling places, for example those found in hills and those in flat areas realized during the iron age. Evidence of these is also found from the antique-Dardan period, during Roman Empire, roman-Byzantine, Byzantine, Nemanjid and Ottoman. Also this Kosovar wealth consists of some sacred constructions of paleochristian time, churches that were built and used by BChristian Illyrian-Arberor-Albanian population during the IV-VI centuries. A number of these objects as ruins still exist in the territory of Kosova. Also some monasteries exist, churches of Byzantine-Kosovar style, eclectic churches of Byzantine style and roman-gothic style, monumental construction built mainly on the grounds of paleochristian objects that were constructed during the period of the Nemanjid Empire in Kosova during XIV century.These churches were used by Kosovar Albanian Christians."

The wording of this extremely illiterate pamphlet, which was published with an introduction by and over the signature of current Kosovo minister of culture Astrit Haracija, does not differ from the writing of Faton Mehmetaj, Carrabregu and heaven knows how many other novice "historians" who received their diplomas overnight without the most rudimentary academic qualifications. Reading these fairy tales and fables, one can glean numerous spicy details, e.g. that Aristotle was Albanian, that Alexander the Great was of Albanian origin and through him numerous Hellenistic rulers, including Cleopatra, that the Serbs practically never lived in Kosovo, except as occupiers who "descended from the mountains to destroy Albanian culture, churches and monasteries, converting them into their own". In keeping with the folk adage, "The old woman dreams of that which she holds dear," the writers of this pamphlet, apparently, are deeply convinced that what they write is true although their story is unsupported by a single shred of evidence. Perhaps one day we will learn that Adam and Eve were, in fact, Illyrians, although that would mean that the entire human race, not just the select heirs of the Illyrians, the Albanians, would be the heirs of the entire legacy of humanity.

This whole story of novice reporters and even more illiterate ministers might even be an amusing joke if such theories and "learning" did not represent the dominant position regarding the identity of the cultural heritage in Kosovo. With the intent of forming a separate and independent political identity for the Province in the process of "turbo nation-building" it is obviously necessary to reassess history and completely destroy all traces of the existence of non-Albanian peoples and cultures. Participants in this process do not include only the ill-intentioned individuals who welcome the opportunity to publish their daydreams in the "yellow" press but official Kosovo institutions which enjoy the support of the international community. Presumably what the destroyers of churches, cemeteries and other monuments have left intact now needs to be finished off by ministers, reporters and school professors.

A simple and logical question to emerge from this would be: If all the old medieval churches in Kosovo and Metohija are Albanian, why were they systematically destroyed and desecrated by the Albanians themselves during this post-war period of internationally guaranteed "peace" without a single eminent Albanian intellectual raising his voice against the destruction of the cultural monuments for which Kosovo is know throughout the world? In just the past six years of international "peace" 150 Orthodox holy shrines have been destroyed, not just what Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova likes to call the more recent "political churches" but numerous centuries old edifices, among them the exquisite medieval churches in Prizren which were barbarically devastated in just one night during last year's March pogrom.

Hence emerges yet again another serious question: To what extent is the survival of the Serbian people and its cultural heritage as a whole possible in this region if the forming of an extremely anachronistic territorial creation where anyone can raze and burn at will, retailor and reshape everything that has been created during past centuries at will and without obstruction? Will that which was not successfully accomplished under the swastika of Greater Albania in 1941 or during the war in 1999 be consciously left to be destroyed despite the international presence in this region? We also wonder whether the appropriate institutions in Serbia will finally start to treat the issue of Kosovo more seriously, not as something that can be resolved by simply transferring responsibility to international representatives. Much more accountability and engagement is necessary at all levels, especially among the resigned Serbian intelligentsia, in order to put a stop to the grand theft of Serbian Orthodox identity, name and memory in the region where our people have left their greatest and most glorious medieval monuments.

By Fr. Sava Janjic

Bishop Teodosije: Long-term protection for Serbian churches and monasteries is necessary

KiM-Info Newsletter 23-08-05

Danas daily, Belgrade, August 18, 2005

Visoki Decani, Belgrade - Only days after KFOR publicly advised of its decision to retain security checkpoints near the monasteries of the Pec Patriarchate and Visoki Decani, and announced a new strategy for the protection of cultural and historical monuments in Kosovo and Metohija, the head of a Kosovo Liberation Army veterans' organization in the Decani and Pec region, Avdyl Mushkolaj, directed an open threat to the monks of Visoki Decani and the members of Italian KFOR guarding this monastery on the pages of the Pristina Albanian language daily "Epoka e Re".

"Mushkolaj has made negative statements earlier with regard to our monastery, even though he is well aware that our brotherhood helped the Albanian population during the war, and that it has done nothing to harm the local population. I think that the purpose of his most recent statement is to contribute to the removal of checkpoints around the monastery. I'm happy that KFOR holds the very firm position that the checkpoints need to stay," said Bishop Teodosije (Sibalic) of Lipljan, the vicar bishop of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren and the abbot of Visoki Decani, in a statement for "Danas".

Bishop Teodosije emphasized that the Decani brotherhood "is very frequently exposed to verbal attacks from the Albanians passing by the monastery, and both KFOR and UNMIK representatives have been informed of this".

"It would be highly significant if the issue of long-term protection for our holy shrines was addressed more by international institutions such as UNESCO, as well as by our own diplomatic contacts and the Belgrade government," emphasized Bishop Teodosije. Since the middle of last year Visoki Decani Monastery has been included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites.

In an article published by "Epoka e Re" Mushkolaj called the Decani monks "criminals who killed innocent Albanians, and now together with KFOR and the UNMIK administration are harassing the people who pass there without reason."

"We are addressing the criminals who hide behind the black drapes of the monastery, as well as both KFOR and the UNMIK administration, to remove the control checkpoints because the anger of the people is increasing with each day and they will no longer tolerate this. What happened to the head of the war veterans organization Avdyl Mushkolaj must not be repeated; otherwise, war invalids, the families of martyrs and KLA veterans will react strongly, using our well-known methods," says the article published in "Epoka e Re".

A KIM Info Service communiqué explains that "the immediate cause of Mushkolaj's public address in the press was a recent incident at a control checkpoint not far from Visoki Decani Monastery, where the former KLA member was stopped by Italian KFOR soldiers who carried out routine controls."

Avdyl Mushkolaj is a former member of the officially disbanded KLA who is also claimed to have Swiss citizenship. He heads one of the more radical wings of former KLA members who, according to well informed Kosovo sources, does not shrink from an eventual conflict with international military forces, and is referred to in the media as "colonel Mushkolaj".

Journalistic sources in Pristina unofficially claim that the daily "Epoka e Re" is close to the radical wing of the disbanded KLA and that it frequently has problems with the law because of the content of the articles it publishes. By J. Tasic

UN envoy urges Belgrade to take constructive role on Kosovo

XINHUA (CHINA), 2005-08-22 23:31:46

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, Aug. 22 (Xinhuanet) --A UN special envoy said here Monday that he would like to see Belgrade play a constructive role in supporting Kosovo's Serbs' entrance into local institutions.

UN special envoy Kai Eide was appointed by Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, in June to evaluate the degree to which standards have been met in reaching democracy and human rights targets in Kosovo. He started on Monday his third and final visit here before he presents an assessment report in September.

"It is not necessarily true that the ethnic Albanian majority will misuse the participation of Serbs in the work of parliament,"Eide said after holding talks with Serbia-Montenegrin Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.

Eide said that there was a need for Kosovo Serbs to be more engaged in the processes that are underway in Kosovo.

Although he had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the situation in Kosovo, he did not rule out the possibility of a better assessment provided constructive progress was achieved in the province.

"It is necessary to achieve greater progress not only in the field of inter-ethnic relations, but also in the area of the rule of law in Kosovo," Eide said.

Draskovic said he was confident that Eide's report to UN would be objective and that Eide would recommend a solution he sincerelybelieved was the best at this point.

"Kosovo is not even close to the point when talks on its final status can start," Draskovic said, adding that the future status of Kosovo can be determined by way of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Draskovic said that Belgrade's plan expressed in the formula "more than autonomy, short of independence" was the best solution for the problems in Kosovo.

Kosovo, which is a province of Serbia, has been under UN administration since the end of Kosovo war in June 1999. Starting talks about its future status is subject to Eide's assessment report to the UN Security Council. Enditem

Kosovo Serbs reject the government's local power reform

RELIEF WEB (SWITZERLAND)

Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 22 Aug 2005

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, Aug 22 (AFP) - Kosovo Serbs on Monday rejected the government's renewed project for local power reform, one of the main UN-set standards for status talks on the UN-administered province, a Kosovo Serb leader said.

Oliver Ivanovic, head of the Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija (SLKM), told reporters that representatives of the two Serb enclaves in central Kosovo -- which were to become new municipalities -- had not been satisfied with the government's project.

"They were of the opinion that the project did not meet their demands for a clear definition of their municipalities' boundaries," Ivanovic said.

He explained that the Serb representatives had demanded connection of their enclaves to nearby Serb settlements and disconnection with ethnic Albanian communities.

"The decision of local representatives from Gracanica and Partes is final, and SLKM will respect it," he said.

The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in July adopted a law on local government reform, one of the key points of the UN-set standards for the province.

The project, which set up five pilot municipalities -- among them two Serb ones -- is considered as test case for Kosovo government and its outreach to the province's minority communities.

The United Nations in June has begun to review whether Kosovo authorities had met a set of democratic standards, a precondition for the opening of talks on the majority ethnic Albanian province's final status.

One key issue is the reform of local administrations, notably in areas populated by minority Serbs.

So far only about 12,500 of some 200,000 Serbs who Belgrade says have left the province since 1999 have returned home, fearing revenge attacks from Albanians for years of Serbian oppression.

Kai Eide, UN Secretary General's special envoy for evaluating standards in Kosovo said in Belgrade on Monday that it "was necessary to achieve greater progress not only in the field of inter-ethnic relations, but also in the area of the rule of law in Kosovo."

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO-led bombing
campaign ousted Serbian troops from the mainly ethnic Albanian province in 1999 to end a Serbian crackdown on rebels.

Inter-ethnic tensions have remained high as Kosovo's ethnic Albanian authorities are keen for talks to open to push for independence, while Belgrade wants the territory to remain part of Serbia and Montenegro.

U.N. envoy says more work needed before talks on Kosovo's future

Associated Press, Aug 22, 2005 10:22 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro-A U.N. envoy said Monday that more work is needed to improve tense relations between Kosovo's Serbs and ethnic Albanians before talks can begin on the contested province's future status.

Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, met Monday with officials in Belgrade who also expressed concern over the situation in Kosovo. Eide was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June to review Kosovo's progress in meeting U.N.-set targets on democracy and civil rights for the province's minority Serbs.

"More needs to be done in Kosovo, not only on better ethnic relations, but also about the rule of law in Kosovo," Eide said after his talks with Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.

But Eide did not rule out delivering a "more positive" report to Annan by next month, which could pave the way for U.N.-mediated negotiations on Kosovo's future status.

The province's majority ethnic Albanians want full independence, but the Serb minority and Belgrade insist that Kosovo remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Draskovic said after meeting Eide that Kosovo "is not even close to the start of talks on its future status." He described conditions for Serbs in Kosovo as "dramatically difficult."

Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

But tensions in Kosovo remain high six years after the end of the conflict. About 100,000 minority Serbs mostly live in isolated enclaves, guarded by NATO troops and fearing attacks from ethnic Albanians extremists.

Belgrade officials insist the position of Serbs in Kosovo must improve before talks on the province's future can start. Belgrade also demands that some 200,000 Serbs who fled the province in the wake of the war be allowed to return to the region.

This is Eide's third visit to the region since his appointment. Before coming to Belgrade, he met ethnic Albanian and Serb officials in Kosovo.

UN ENVOY DISAPPOINTED AT PROGRESS IN KOSOVO

ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) 22-Aug-05 15:12

Belgrade 22 August (AKI) - United Nations special envoy to the troubled Muslim-majority province of Kosovo, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, said on Monday he is disappointed with the achievements made in implementing democratic and human rights standards in the province, but expressed the hope that "constructive progress" could still be made before talks onKosovo's final status. Although legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999.

"It is indispensable to achieve a greater degree of progress not only in multi-ethnic relations, but also in the rule of law," Eide said after his third round of talks with Serbian leaders in Belgrade. Eide has been appointed by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan to assess the situation in Kosovo, and to submit a report to the Security Council by the end of September.

Kosovo's 1.5 million majority ethnic Albanian community has grown impatient over the length of time it is taking to decide on Kosovo's future status. Clashes between Albanians and ethnic Serbs in March 2004 left 19 people dead. Some 80,000 Serbs have remained in the province - one of Europe's poorest regions - since the ethnic conflict there in the late 1990s. The Serbian minority lives in separate areas watched over by NATO peacekeepers.

Depending on Eide's findings, the international community was planning to open talks on the final status of the province, whose majority ethnic Albanians demand independence, which Belgrade opposes. After talks with foreign minister Vuk Draskovic, Eide said that despite his disappointment his final report might contain more positive appraisals if a move forward was noted in the meantime. He also talked with Serbian president Boris Tadic and prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Eide previously held talks with ethnic Albanian and Serb leaders in Kosovo and on what was believed to be his final visit to Belgrade before preparing his report, expressed regrets that Kosovo Serbs continued to boycott Kosovo's local institutions and the parliament. He said he would like to see a more "constructive role from Belgrade" in persuading Kosovo Serbs to take part in the institutions.

Vojislav Kostunica's government urged Kosovo Serbs to boycott last October's parliamentary elections, because the international community rejected his proposal to grant Serbs local self-rule, with their own police and administration.

The UN peackeeping force in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Kosovo's provisional government instead came up with am alternative plan, proposing a pilot program of ethnically mixed municipalities, which Serbs rejected.

Kosovo's prime minister Bajram Kosumi said in an interview with Radio Free Europe on Monday that the Serb proposal would further increase their isolation, while his plan aimed at creating multi-ethnic municipalities was intended to allow areas "where Serbs and Albanians can live together".

Kosumi said he was ready to talk to Belgrade on all issues still open, but added that ethnic Albanians would not renounce the idea of independence and that the international community, not Belgrade, can play a role in it. "The independence of Kosovo will not be a subject in negotiations with Belgrade", he concluded.

U.N. envoy discusses Kosovo situation with Belgrade leaders

Associated Press, Aug 22, 2005 4:58 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro-A U.N. envoy met leaders in Belgrade Monday to discuss conditions in Kosovo before he issues a progress report that could lead to negotiations on the contested province's future status.

Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June to review Kosovo's progress in meeting U.N.-set targets on democracy and civil rights for the province's minority Serbs.

This is Eide's third visit to the region since his appointment. Before coming to Belgrade, he met ethnic Albanian and Serb officials in Kosovo.

In Belgrade, Eide met with Serbia-Montenegro's foreign minister, Vuk Draskovic. He will also hold talks with Serbia's President Boris Tadic later Monday.

Eide is expected to submit his recommendations on Kosovo by September. If the review is positive, it would be the first step toward possible negotiations on the disputed province's final status.

The province's majority ethnic Albanians want full independence, but the Serb minority and Belgrade insist that Kosovo remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

But tensions in Kosovo remain high six years after the end of the conflict. About 100,000 minority Serbs mostly live in isolated enclaves, guarded by NATO troops and fearing attacks from ethnic Albanians extremists.

Belgrade officials insist the position of Serbs in Kosovo must improve before talks on the province's future can start. Belgrade also demands that some 200,000 Serbs who fled the province in the wake of the war be allowed to return to the region.

Video of D.J.'s Satirical Song Provokes Offense in Kosovo

THE NEW YORK TIMES, Saturday, August 21, 2005 By NICHOLAS WOOD

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Most of the satirical songs written at the radio station KZOK in Seattle amuse listeners for a brief life, then fade from the air. But one number from 1999 about the war in the Serbian province of Kosovo has ignited a diplomatic dispute years later and halfway around the world.

The song, written by the D.J. Bob Rivers and set to the melody of the Beach Boys hit "Kokomo," ridiculed what he considered the nonchalant way the United States assumed the role of the world's policeman when it led an air war over Kosovo, a place most Americans knew little about.

The trouble started, Mr. Rivers said, when a group of Norwegian soldiers on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo came upon the song in 2002 and decided to make a rock video of it.

The two-and-half-minute video shows four soldiers miming to the music - dancing on watchtowers and armored trucks, wearing bulletproof vests over their bare chests, performing routines in their military compound and even splashing mineral water on one another.

Over time, the tape (which has a link on Mr. Rivers's Web site, www.bobrivers.com) made its way to the Internet and caught the attention of BK TV, the Serbian television station. When the station broadcast the video, it incited an uproar, and not only because of the dancing and lightly clad soldiers. What was most provocative were the song's lyrics. Verses such as "Protecting human rights, airstrikes and firefights/We'll be dropping our bombs, wherever Serbian bad guys hide," caused deep offense.

The video prompted criticism among Serb leaders of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, a province that officially remains part of Serbia, but has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO since the two-and-a-half-month bombing campaign in 1999.

A senior adviser to Serbia's prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, said the video suggested that the NATO mission, which was meant to be evenhanded between the province's majority Albanian population and its minority Serb community, was biased.

"Such things only help the Serbian side to prove that there is no security in Kosovo, no respect for human rights and no multiethnicity," Agence France-Presse quoted the adviser, Slobodan Samardzic, as saying.

"The president was very shocked to learn about this," said Vuk Jeremic, the senior foreign policy adviser to President Boris Tadic of Serbia. Mr. Tadic was especially upset because the soldiers came from Norway, a country with a strong record for peace initiatives and conflict resolution, Mr. Jeremic said in an interview.

The video showed that four years after the collapse of Slobodan Milosevic's autocratic government in Serbia, the nation's image abroad is still sullied. "This is what boys from Norway think about Serbs," he said.

Norway's ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, Hans Ola Urstad, promptly issued an apology calling the video "highly regrettable" and promised an investigation. He expressed the hope that the video would not do "serious harm to the longstanding and deep friendship between Serbia and Montenegro and Norway."

The original intent of the song - to question American involvement in Kosovo - had clearly been missed. "It was meant to be very lighthearted, and was aimed at our own government," Mr. Rivers said in a telephone interview, but instead it was taken as propaganda.

He said that for several years he had received e-mail messages from Serbs complaining about the song.

Zoran Stanojevic, a journalist who writes a column about the Internet in the Serbian news magazine Vreme, understood that the song was not the work of Norwegian soldiers. If they were that good at satire they would be "doing stand-up on the radio," not serving in the army, he said.

"If nobody tells you it is a satire, it can sound a bit harsh," he said in a telephone interview. He blamed cultural differences for the misinterpretation. "For example, the ironic use of a love ballad, they didn't understand the idea." Most Serbs still do not know the song's origin, he said.

The Norwegians' video is not the only case of cultural insensitivity by NATO troops in Kosovo. In July, Express, a Kosovo Albanian newspaper, republished an interview by an American soldier with his hometown newspaper. In it the soldier, Sgt. Robbie Nelson, from the 635th Armor unit of the Kansas National Guard, compared local farming methods to turn-of-19th-century America. The article caused some amusement and some anger.

Sergeant Nelson said he had no idea that his article would be reprinted in Kosovo. "I didn't have any intention of causing anybody offense," he said. "I was just telling my local paper what's different about Kosovo."

A spokesman for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense said this month that there would be no proceedings against the six soldiers responsible for the video because they had all left the army.

Mr. Rivers said he believed the Norwegian soldiers were to blame for taking his song out of context. But he was not sure if the video merited an international dispute, or if the Norwegians should have apologized for what was, after all, his song.

"I don't know enough about the world to know who should apologize to who," he said.

New U.S. general takes over command of U.S. troops in Kosovo

Associated Press, Aug 21, 2005 6:03 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Brig. Gen. John Harrel took over command of U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo in a ceremony Sunday at a sprawling American base in the east of the province.

Harrel replaces Brig. Gen. William Wade, who was recently appointed by California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to head the state's National Guard, the largest in the United States.

There are some 1,800 U.S. soldiers serving with the 18,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo, a disputed province under U.N. administration.

The peacekeepers were first deployed in 1999 following the NATO-led aerial bombardment of Serb forces wagging a bloody crackdown on the province's separatist ethnic Albanians.

Harrel will also be in charge of one of the four NATO-controlled regions in the east of the province, where most of the U.S. troops are based.

Kosovo is becoming poorer everyday

TERRE LIBERE (ITALY) 10 giu 2004 - Categoria: notizie Balcans

A study conducted by the World Bank entitled "Kosovo Economic Memorandum" shows that poverty in Kosovo is deepening. According to this study, 15 percent of Kosovars live in extreme poverty, while 37 percent are considered to live in poverty.

According to the study that was made public today in Prishtina, 15 percent of the Kosovo population posses 0.93 euros a day, which is considered under the limit of extreme poverty. Around 37 percent of the population lives with 1.42 euro per day.

During the presentation of this report, the Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi said that Kosovo aims to open the markets and that will be done through a development strategy with institutional support. The Prime Minister said that the need for longer-period loans would impact in the economic growth and bringing down of the poverty in the country. He said that the postponement of the solution of the Kosovo's final status is halting the economic development of the country and is discouraging the foreign investors.

In the World Bank's Report for 2002, the level of extreme poverty was 12 percent, while now it has increased to 15 percent. The Kosovo's rising poverty, according to the World Bank's report, is influenced by the lack of economic growth and downsizing of donations for 70% during the time-period 2000-2003.

The balance of payments in Kosovo is negative. Only four percent of the Kosovo imports has been covered by exports of Kosovo products which amounts to international trade deficit running at 96 percent.

Autore: Redazione terrelibere

'Faulty solutions' for Bosnia and Kosovo

THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA) LETTERS August 17, 2005

Most of Doug Bandow's excellent column Monday ("Closing the books on Kosovo," Commentary) would be in agreement with what I have to say.

It is, indeed, appropriate that the passing of such a notable as ABC's Peter Jennings be acknowledged with all due memorial. Some of the stories about his achievements were coupled with references to NBC's Tom Brokow and CBS' Dan Rather.

Quite apart from their achievements, I am reminded that none of the three examined critically the assumptions on which President Clinton's Balkan policies were based. They were not alone, however, because the major newspapers were no better. "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," as well as National Public Radio, failed equally.

The net result was that the Clinton administration imposed grossly faulty "solutions" in Bosnia and Kosovo. When Mr. Clinton defended his sending troops into Bosnia, he said they would be there "about a year." Nearly 10 years later, they are still there.

The Dayton solution created a two-unit Bosnia, the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation, with a weak central government. However, the Contact Group's high representative, whose job presumably was to see to it that the Dayton Accords be observed, has acted as a "colonial governor," dismissing elected officials, mostly in the Serb Republic.

His aim, especially in the case of the latest holder of that office -- Paddy Ashdown -- has been to take powers away from the two units and to strengthen the central government.

In the meantime, Osama bin Laden loyalists are roaming freely, mainly in the Muslim-Croat Federation.

In Kosovo, where Mr. Clinton vowed to create a multiethnic society, the Albanians killed a large number of Serbs and drove many more out of Kosovo, along with other minorities. The presence of NATO and the United Nations has not impeded the Albanians' determination to have an ethnically pure Kosovo.

Such are the results of wrongheaded policies, to which the press failed to alert us.

ALEX N. DRAGNICH
Professor emeritus
Vanderbilt University
Bowie

NATO remains committed to Kosovo security as possible talks near, commander says

Associated Press, Aug 18, 2005 9:25 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-NATO remains committed to providing security to allow for a peaceful climate in Kosovo as the disputed U.N.-administered province nears possible talks on its future status, the alliance's commander for southeastern Europe said during a visit Thursday.

Adm. Harry Ulrich, commander of NATO's Joint Force Command based in Naples, Italy, made the comments during his second visit to Kosovo as regional commander. There are some 17,500 NATO-led peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo.

"NATO is absolutely committed to providing a safe and secure environment here in Kosovo so that the political process can work its way to a successful conclusion," Ulrich said.

Ulrich met with officials from NATO, the United Nations and Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi during his one-day visit. He also visited Kosovo Protection Corps, a civil emergency unit consisting mostly of former ethnic Albanian rebel fighters that battled Serb forces during the 1998-1999 war.

The United Nations and NATO have been running Kosovo since 1999, when NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days to force it to end a crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians and pull out the Serb troops.

Relations between NATO and Serbia have improved since former President Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from power in 2000.

In Kosovo, ethnic tensions remain high six years after the war. There are fears that security risks could escalate ahead of planned talks on the province's final status later this year.

Kosovo is dominated by ethnic Albanians seeking independence from Serbia, while Belgrade wants to retain at least some control over its southern province.

Eide not satisfied with Kosovo progress

B92, Belgrade, August 18, 2005 21:05

PRISTINA -- Thursday - The UN secretary-general's special envoy for the implementation of standards in Kosovo said today that he is disappointed with the discussions he has had in Pristina.

Kai Eide, speaking in Pristina, said that he wanted to see the Kosovo institutions more seriously committed to meeting the standards imposed by the international community as a precondition for the beginning of status talks.

In his third visit to the province, which began at the weekend, Eide has so far met President Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo Assembly Speaker Nedzat Daci and the leader o the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, Hashim Taci.

The UN envoy told journalists after these separate meetings that he had not been alone in the criticism he levelled at the authorities in Pristina and Belgrade three weeks ago, but that Contact Group representatives and EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana had had the same response.

Eide described Kosovo as being in a key phase in which everyone must take their share of the responsibility. "I want to see progress on the key issues. That relates to everyone. No one is excluded, neither the Government nor the opposition. And I will follow everything closely and include changes, if there are any, in my report."

Rugova said today that he hopes Eide's report will be positive because this would mean the beginning of negotiations on the future and independence of Kosovo. "I am insisting on direct acceptance of the independence of Kosovo from the US and the EU, which would bring peace to this part of Europe and the world," he said.

This visit is Eide's third to Kosovo since being appointed and he is expected to report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the UN Security Council at the end of September.

NATO's regional commander in Kosovo visit

Associated Press, Aug 18, 2005 4:12 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-NATO's commander for southeastern Europe was in Kosovo on Thursday, as this disputed U.N.-run province nears possible talks on its future status.

Adm. Harry Ulrich, commander of NATO's Joint Force Command based in Naples, Italy, will meet with officials from the alliance, the U.N. and Kosovo during his one-day stay, NATO said.

Ulrich's was making his second visit to Kosovo as NATO's regional commander, as this province enters a delicate phase on resolving its final status.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO since 1999. Ethnic Albanians have demanded outright independence, while Serbs insist the province remain part of Serbia.

Talks aimed at resolving the status are expected later this year, if Kosovo meets internationally set benchmarks on democracy, human rights and rights of minorities.

There are some 17,500 NATO-led peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo. They moved into the province following the alliance's 1999 war aimed at stopping Serb forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

Jihadists Find Convenient Base in Bosnia

CYBERCAST NEWS SERVICE (USA) By Sherrie Gossett, CNSNews.com Staff Writer, August 17, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Terrorists who previously targeted the U.S. are now in Bosnia, where they have access to a "one-stop shop" of jihad training camps, weapons and illegal Islamic "charities" -- all at the doorstep of Europe, terrorism experts said.

"[Convicted terrorist] Karim Said Atmani recently returned to Bosnia after being released early from French prison for 'good behavior,'" terrorism expert and author Evan Kohlmann said.

Atmani, a Moroccan, was linked to the "millennium bomb plot" and convicted by a French court of colluding with Osama bin Laden. He has been linked to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), an organization responsible for airplane hijackings and subway bombings in France.

"This is very disturbing," said Kohlmann. "Atmani promised he would wage jihad until the end. That doesn't mean until a plea deal, or early release; it means until death or victory."

Also finding haven in Bosnia is Abu el Maali, who like Atmani, was a foreign national who fought in the Bosnia war. El Maali was later accused by French authorities of attempting to smuggle explosives in 1998 to an Egyptian terrorist group plotting to destroy U.S. military installations in Germany. He was also accused of leading terrorist cells in Bosnia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This activity is very significant," said Kohlmann. "Senior members of the former Muslim Brigade and their top commanders are still there, and they're still active."

The Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHF), a charity that was later found by the U.S. Treasury to be underwriting terrorist operations including al Qaeda, shut its offices in Bosnia after the U.S. announcement but reopened under the name "Vazir." The new organization was registered as an "association for sport, culture and education."

In 2002, the U.S. Treasury Department reported that the Bosnia office of Al-Haramain was linked to Al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, an Egyptian terrorist group that was a signatory to bin Laden's Feb. 23, 1998, fatwa -- or religious edict -- against the United States.

Cybercast News Service viewed videotape shot by Kohlmann of activity at the former Sarajevo offices of Al-Haramain. "All they did was white-out the old sign," said Kohlmann.

Cybercast News Service has also obtained a video that terrorism analysts say depicts an active jihad training camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a region previously described by analysts as an ideal gateway for terror missions into Europe. See Video

The video, which is over four minutes in length, shows outdoor maneuvers, explosives training and training inside what appears to be a school gym. Exercises in hostage-taking are also shown.

Cybercast News Service obtained the footage from Gregory R. Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association. The footage, said to have been shot before autumn 2004, was first aired in May 2005 before an audience of senior military officials during the Strategy 2005: The Global Strategic Forum held in Washington, D.C.

The presence of active jihadist camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina was also confirmed by attorney and counter-terrorism expert Darko Trifunovic, who previously served as a diplomat in the foreign service of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kohlmann said that the main camps used during the war have been closed, and a different tactic for jihad training has emerged: disguising them as youth camps. "These days, usually the kind of jihad camp you'll see in Bosnia and other countries are so-called 'youth camps.'" They are usually led by a former member of the mujahadeen, someone with military experience, and perhaps a fundamentalist cleric, said Kohlmann.

"They take young people into the hills or even a national park and conduct makeshift jihad training. As ridiculous as it sounds, they've found it's very difficult to track this sort of thing."

Christopher Brown, research associate with the Transitions to Democracy Project at the Hudson Institute, echoed the report. "A lot of these camps are very mobile," he said. "Bosnia has a lot of rugged territory where such camps can be set up temporarily."

The idea that there are no jihadist camps in Bosnia and radical Islam has not gained any foothold there, as some analysts suggest, is "ridiculous," according to Brown. He points to the raising of two Waffen-SS divisions under the encouragement of the mufti of Jerusalem during World War II, up to the spread of Wahhabism by the Saudis beginning in the 1960s and 1970s.

"Al Qaeda cells were set up in Bosnia in the early 1990s by Ayman al Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, and bin Laden was said to visit the area twice in the mid-1990s," Brown added. "Iran was very involved in supporting the Islamist separatist movement in Bosnia, and Hezbollah was doing training there in the 1990s."

Training also takes place inside youth centers and school gyms, according to Trifunovic.

The goal is a network of like-minded cells as opposed to having the sort of permanent camp that would fuel an active frontline, said Kohlmann. "It's not that surprising. This sort of thing goes on in the U.S. as well," he said.

"Only a very small minority of Bosnians are attracted to this," said Kohlmann. "This is primarily a foreign phenomenon -- mostly consisting of Syrians, Egyptians and Algerians."

From the time of the Bosnian war, local Muslims experienced friction with the foreign jihadists and opposed the idea of an Islamic state, as well as condemned their atrocities, said Kohlmann. That friction continues.

Marko Attila Hoare, research fellow at the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge, cautions against arriving at broad conclusions based on the reports of jihad camps. "The evidence suggests that talk of 'active jihadist camps' in Bosnia has been greatly exaggerated," he said.

"Over 10 years since several thousand Islamic radicals fought in the Bosnian war of the 1990s, Bosnia -- unlike New York, Madrid and London -- has yet to experience a single Islamist terrorist outrage. Nor have any Bosnian Muslims been implicated in Islamist terrorist acts elsewhere. Al Qaeda tried and failed to turn Bosnia into a jihadist base; the moderate version of Islam practiced there is not conducive to Islamism," said Hoare.

Statistics compiled before the war and in 2004 suggest that the majority of Bosnian Muslims do not attend mosque regularly and have a predominantly European secular outlook regarding politics.

Hoare has previously described the Palestinians, Chechens and "other enslaved Muslim peoples" as "caught between the Scylla of colonial oppression and the Charybdis of Islamofascism."

Hoare has contended that "there can be no freedom for Muslim peoples without the defeat of the Islamofascists and everything they stand for; and there can be no defeat of the Islamofascists without liberty for all Muslim peoples."

Hoare told Cybercast News Service: "It is entirely likely that foreign Islamists are still trying to recruit disaffected Bosnian Muslims, but these latter are likely to make less willing recruits than are members of the Muslim communities of Western Europe."

Hoare's analysis is in line with that of French political scientist Giles Keppel, who in the book "Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam" described the Islamists' attempt to graft jihad onto Bosnian operations as a failure.

Defense analyst Frederick Peterson believes that to a certain degree, talk of majorities not favoring the Wahhabist strain of Islam is a "deceptive argument."

"There doesn't need to be a majority to be a threat. When push comes to shove, they will identify with the side most like them and either be silent, harbor or abet," Peterson said. "We know that the mujahadeen in Bosnia were al Qaeda and Iranian-sponsored, and they are still there today."

"We have terrorist operatives who have targeted the U.S. back in a relatively un-policed region that offers one-stop shopping in conventional arms and open spaces for training, ideological support, recruitment drives and funding," said Kohlmann. "It's a very disturbing phenomenon."