Now That's What I Call Christmas! and Kosovo Liberation Army: Difference between pages

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{{Refimprove|date=March 2008}}
: ''This article describes a 2001 album in the US ''Now!'' series. It should not be confused with other similarly-titled "Now!" Christmas albums. For more information, see [[Now That's What I Call Music!]] and [[List of Now That's What I Call Music! albums]].''
{{Infobox War Faction
{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
|name=Kosovo Liberation Army <br>(''Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës'')
| Name = Now That's What I Call Christmas!
|war= [[Kosovo War]]
| Type = Compilation
|image= [[Image:Uck kla logo.svg]]
| Artist = [[Various artists]]
|caption=
| Cover = Now Christmas 1 USA.jpg
|active=1981 - 1999
| Released = [[October 23]] [[2001]]
|leaders= [[Hashim Thaçi]], [[Agim Çeku]], [[Ramush Haradinaj]]
| Recorded =
|clans=
| Genre = [[Christmas music]]
|headquarters=
| Length = 116:15
|area=[[Kosovo]]
| Label = [[Universal Music Group|Universal]]
|strength=
| Producer =
|previous=
| Chronology = Series
|next=[[Kosovo Protection Corps]]
| Reviews =
|allies=[[Albania]], [[NATO]]
* [[Allmusic]] {{Rating|4.5|5}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:tr5e8qcpbtq4 link]
|opponents=[[Yugoslavia]]
*''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' B- [http://www.ew.com/ew/allabout/0,9930,39185_11_0_,00.html 11/30/01]
|battles=
| Last album = ''[[Now That's What I Call Music! 7 (U.S. series)]]''<br />(2001)
| This album = '''''Now That's What I Call Christmas!''''' <br /> (2001)
| Next album = ''[[Now That's What I Call Music! 8 (U.S. series)]]''<br />(2001)
|
| Misc = {{Extra chronology 2
| Artist = Christmas
| Type = Compilation album
| [Background = background]
| Last album =
| This album = '''''Now That's What I Call Christmas!''''' <br /> (2001)
| Next album = ''[[Now That's What I Call Christmas!: The Signature Collection|Now That's What I Call Christmas! 2]]''<br />(2003)
}}
}}
}}
[[Image:Uck-prishtin18-99.jpg|thumb|right|305px|KLA troops march on the streets of [[Pristina]] on September 18, 1999 during a last parade organized by the KLA before the deadline for the army's demilitarization as agreed with the NATO-led KFOR force.]]
The '''Kosovo Liberation Army''' or '''KLA''' ([[Albanian language|Albanian]]: ''Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës'' or ''UÇK'') was a Kosovar [[Albanians|Albanian]] guerilla group which sought the independence of Kosovo from [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] in the late 1990s.


Its campaign against Serbian security forces precipitated a major [[JNA|Yugoslav military]] crackdown which led to the [[Kosovo War]] of 1998-1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces and Serb militias within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians and a refugee crisis that eventually caused NATO to intervene militarily in order to stop what was widely identified (by NATO nations, human rights organizations, the EU, and western media) as an ongoing campaign of [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref>[http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-03.htm UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 4. March-June 1999: An Overview<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE3D81F31F937A15750C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Conflict In The Balkans: The Overview; Nato Authorizes Bomb Strikes; Primakov, In Air, Skips U.S. Visit - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
'''''Now That's What I Call Christmas!''''' was released on [[October 23]], [[2001]]. The album is part of the ([[US]]) [[Now That's What I Call Music!|Now!]] series, and the first holiday-themed album in the series. The album was certified 6x Platinum in November 2004. The artists received a [[platinum album]] for their contributions to the Holiday Season double-CD.


The conflict was ended by a negotiated agreement that requested UN to take over the administration and political process, including local institutional building and determine the final status of the region.
==Track listing==
===Disc one===
#[[Nat King Cole]] - "[[The Christmas Song]]"
#[[Bing Crosby]] - "[[White Christmas (song)|White Christmas]]"
#[[Elvis Presley]] - "[[Blue Christmas]]"
#[[Frank Sinatra]] - "[[Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas]]"
#[[Tony Bennett]] - "[[Winter Wonderland]]"
#[[Ella Fitzgerald]] - "[[Sleigh Ride]]"
#[[Dean Martin]] - "[[Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!]]"
#[[Perry Como]] - "[[Home for the Holidays (song)|(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays]]"
#[[Johnny Mathis]] - "[[The Most Wonderful Time of the Year]]"
#[[Burl Ives]] - "[[A Holly Jolly Christmas]]"
#[[Gene Autry]] - "[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]"
#[[Elmo Shropshire]] & [[Patsy Shropshire]] - "[[Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer]]"
#[[Brenda Lee]] - "[[Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]"
#[[Bobby Helms]] - "[[Jingle Bell Rock]]"
#[[The Beach Boys]] - "[[Little Saint Nick]]"
#[[The Carpenters]] - "[[Merry Christmas Darling]]"
#[[Kathy Mattea]] - "[[Christmas Collage]]"
#[[David Bowie]] & [[Bing Crosby]] - "[[Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy]]"


===Disc two===
==History==
#[[The Plastic Ono Band]] & The [[Harlem]] Community Choir - "[[Happy Xmas (War Is Over)]]"
#[[Bruce Springsteen]] - "[[Santa Claus Is Coming to Town]]"
#[[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]] - "[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]"
#[[Paul McCartney]] - "[[Wonderful Christmastime]]"
#[[Michael Bolton]] - "[[Our Love Is Like a Holiday]]"
#[[Harry Connick Jr.]] - "[[When My Heart Finds Christmas|(It Must Have Been Ol') Santa Claus]]"
#[[Diana Krall]] - "[[Jingle Bells]]"
#[[Mannheim Steamroller]] - "[[Away in a Manger]]"
#[[Ottmar Liebert]] - "[[Deck the Halls]]"
#[[Gloria Estefan]] - "[[Love on Layaway]]"
#[[Celine Dion]] - "[[Don't Save It All for Christmas Day]]"
#[[Joe (singer)|Joe]] - "This Christmas"
#[[Isley Brothers]] - "[[Special Gift]]"
#[[Shaggy (artist)|Shaggy]] - "[[All We Need Is Love (Christmas in the Yard)]]"
#[[Britney Spears]] - "[[My Only Wish (This Year)]]"
#[['N Sync]] - "[[You Don't Have to Be Alone (On Christmas)]]"
#[[Luther Vandross]] - "[[O Come All Ye Faithful]]"
#[[Boyz II Men]] - "[[Silent Night (song)|Silent Night]]"


[[Image:1 komandant-selimi.jpg|thumb|left|271px|KLA Commander Selimi]]
==Charts and sales==
In February 1996 the KLA undertook a series of attacks against targets that included police stations and Serb government offices in Western Kosovo.<ref>"Unknown Albanian 'liberation army' claims attacks", Agence France Presse, [[February 17]], [[1996]]</ref> The Serbian authorities denounced it as a terrorist organization and increased the number of security forces in the region. This had the counter-productive effect of boosting the credibility of the embryonic KLA among the Kosovo Albanian population.
*2001 [[The Billboard 200]] - # 3<ref>[http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3043899&cdi=7799186&cid=12%2F22%2F2001 The Billboard 200 Chart Listing For The Week Of December 22 2001]</ref>
*2001 [[Top Internet Albums]] - # 4
*[[RIAA certification]]: 6x Platinum (US)<ref>[http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=NOW&artist=VARIOUS&format=ALBUM&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=ST&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=Platinum&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1998&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for NOW! Platinum Albums]</ref>


===Foreign volunteers===
==References==
The KLA included in its ranks foreign volunteers from Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany, the US <ref>http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=248236&apc_state=henibcr5b891da66b3662d9a16bf0d86e537b3b</ref>, and France <ref>http://www.aimpress.ch/dyn/trae/archive/data/199904/90420-001-trae-tir.htm</ref>.
<references />
30-40 Volunteers from the Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association also participated in training KLA troops <ref>http://www.cfiva.org/cfiva/history/index.cfm</ref>.

The KLA usually rewarded after service its international volunteers with a passage home, as a gesture of thanks. <ref>http://www.cfiva.org/cfiva/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&newsID=13</ref>

==Aftermath (post-1999)==

After the war, the KLA was transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, which worked alongside NATO forces patrolling the province.<ref name=cfr/> The KLA legacy remains powerful within Kosovo. Its former members still play a major role in Kosovar politics.

Its former political head [[Hashim Thaçi]] is now the leader of the [[Democratic Party of Kosovo]] and the Prime Minister of Kosovo since January 2008.

The KLA's former military head, [[Agim Çeku]], after the war became Prime Minister of Kosovo. The move caused some controversy in Serbia, as Belgrade regarded him as a war criminal, though he was never indicted by the Hague tribunal [http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/total_coverage/kosovo/ceku.html].

[[Ramush Haradinaj]], a former KLA commander, served briefly as [[Prime Minister of Kosovo]] before he willfully turned himself up to the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) at [[The Hague]] to stand trial on accusations against him for war crimes [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4337085.stm] and was acquited of all charges.

[[Fatmir Limaj]], one of the senior commanders of the KLA to also went through a trial process in The Hague, and was acquitted of all charges in November 2005 [http://www.trial-ch.org/trialwatch/profiles/en/legalprocedures/p145.html]. He is now minister of transport and telecommunication.

Hajredin Bala, an ex-KLA prison guard, was sentenced on 30 November 2005 to 13 years’ imprisonment for the mistreatment of three prisoners at the Llapushnik prison camp, his personal role in the "maintenance and enforcement of the inhumane conditions" of the camp, aiding the torture of one prisoner, and of participating in the murder of nine prisoners from the camp who were marched to the Berisha Mountains on 25 or 26 July 1998 and killed. Bala appealed the sentence and the appeal is still pending. <ref>[http://www0.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1070-e.htm] The Hague, 21 April 2006 - Appeals Chamber</ref>

==Foreign support==
In 1996 a British weekly newspaper, [[The European]], carried an article by a French expert stating that "German civil and military intelligence services have been involved in training and equipping the rebels with the aim of cementing German influence in the Balkan area. (...) The birth of the KLA in 1996 coincided with the appointment of Hansjoerg Geiger as the new head of the [[BND]] (German secret Service). (...) The BND men were in charge of selecting recruits for the KLA command structure from the 500,000 Kosovars in Albania." <ref>FALLGOT, Roger (1998): "How Germany Backed KLA", in ''The European'', [[21 September]]-[[27 September]]. pp 21-27.</ref> Former senior adviser to the German parliament [[Matthias Küntzel]] treid to prove later on that German secret diplomacy had been instrumental in helping the KLA since its creation.<ref>KUNTZEL, Matthias (2002): ''Der Weg in den Krieg. Deutschland, die Nato und das Kosovo'' (The Road to War. Germany, Nato and Kosovo). Elefanten Press. Berlin, Germany. pp. 59-64.</ref>

James Bissett, Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania in 1990, recalled in 1992 and retired from Foreign Service to eventually take a job as the head of an International organization in Moscow, helping the Russian Government establish a new immigration agency, writes that "...as early as 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency assisted by the British Special Armed Services were arming and training Kosovo Liberation Army members in Albania to foment armed rebellion in Kosovo. (...) The hope was that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene ..." <ref>[http://www.deltax.net/bissett/a-monster.htm James Bissett<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> According to Tim Judah, KLA representatives had already met with American, British, and Swiss intelligence agencies in 1996, and possibly "several years earlier" <ref>JUDAH, Tim (2002): ''Kosovo: War and Revenge''. Yale University Press. New Haven, USA. Page 120</ref> and according to [[The Sunday Times]], "American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia" [http://www.balkanpeace.org/index.php?index=/content/balkans/kosovo_metohija/articles/kam01.incl].


==Reported abuses==

There have been reports of war crimes committed by the KLA both during and after the conflict. These have been directed against both Serbs, other ethnic minorities (principally [[Romani people|Roma]]) and against ethnic Albanians accused of collaborating with the Serb authorities. <ref>[[Human Rights Watch]], [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/ UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo]</ref> According to a 2001 report by '''[[Human Rights Watch]]''' (HRW):

<blockquote>''The KLA was responsible for serious abuses… including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state.''

''Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes.'' <ref>[http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword.htm UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo], executive summary</ref></blockquote>

The KLA engaged in tit-for-tat attacks with Serbian nationalists in Kosovo, reprisals against ethnic Albanians who "collaborated" with the Serbian government, and bombed police stations and cafes known to be frequented by Serb officials, killing innocent civilians in the process. Most of its activities were funded by drug running, though its ties to community groups and Albanian exiles gave it local popularity.<ref name=cfr>[[Council on Foreign Relations]], [http://www.cfr.org/publication/10159/ Terrorist Groups and Political Legitimacy], 16.03.2006</ref>

The [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] authorities regarded the KLA a [[terrorist]] group<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070402053051/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3517 MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base] using a web.archive.org copy of 2 April 2007</ref>, though many European governments did not. The Serbian government also reported that the KLA had killed and kidnapped no fewer than 3,276 civilians of various ethnic descriptions including some Albanians.<ref name=ZAT>.[http://www.arhiva.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/2002-07/08/325076.html Victims of the Albanian terrorism in Kosovo-Metohija (Killed, kidnapped, and missing persons, January 1998 - November 2001)]<br>[http://www.arhiva.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/2002-05/25/326656.html Žrtve albanskog terorizma na Kosovu i Metohiji (Ubijena, oteta i nestala lica, januar 1998 - novembar 2001)]</ref> President Bill Clinton's special envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, described the KLA as, "without any questions, a terrorist group."<ref name=cfr/>

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

The Podujevo bus bombing was a terrorist attack on a civilian bus in a Serb-populated area near the town of Podujevo in Serbia, Kosovo on 16 February 2001 by Kosovar Albanian extremists. 12 Serb civilians who were on route to the Gračanica monastery site were killed and dozens more injured.{{fact}}

[[Carla Del Ponte]], a long-time [[ICTY]] chief prosecutor claimed in her book [[The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals]] that there were instances of organ trafficking in 1999 after the end of the [[Kosovo War]]. These allegations were dismissed by [[Kosovan]] and [[Albania]]n authorities.<ref name=telegraph>[[The Daily Telegraph]], [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/11/wserb111.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox Serb prisoners 'were stripped of their organs in Kosovo war'], 14.04.2008</ref> The allegations have been rejected by Kosovar authorities as fabrications while the ICTY has said "no reliable evidence had been obtained to substantiate the allegations" <ref>http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2008/pb080416.htm</ref>

==Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:1 uck-llapashtice1998.jpg|KLA recruiting in Llapashtica region. 1998
Image:2 uck-malisheve.jpg|KLA recruiting in Malisheva region.
Image:1 uck-brigada136.jpg|Members of the KLA Brigade 136
Image:1 uck-0049.jpg|KLA recruits amongst the local population. 1998

Image:1 uck-0481.jpg|152mm of the Albanian Army (FASH) operated by KLA troops against the Yugoslav Army.
Image:1 uck-0480.jpg|152mm of the Albanian Army (FASH) operated by KLA troops against the Yugoslav Army.
Image:1 uck-trupatbritanike.jpg|KLA fighters meet with UK troops, part of KFOR. 1999
Image:1 uck-bor004.jpg|KLA troops advance against Yugoslav Army. 1998
Image:Uck-0580-selimi-ceku.jpg|KLA commanders Selimi and Çeku (right).

Image:Uck-0298.jpg|Albanian volunteers from Europe resting before the deployment in KLA ranks. 1999 Kosovo.
Image:1 uck-kundrtank.jpg|KLA armament.
</gallery>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Kosovo Protection Corps]]
* [[Now That's What I Call Music!]]
* [[Military of Kosovo]]
* [[List of Now That's What I Call Music! albums]]
* [[Kosovo Police Service]]
* [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]]
* [[Albanian Armed Forces]]
* [[Kosovo War]]
* [[Serbian-Albanian Conflict]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.tmk-ks.org/ KPC/TMK Official Site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxr3NAoKvC0&mode=related&search= Now That's What I Call Christmas! Tv advert]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20000301034049/http://www.janes.com/defence/features/kosovo/kla.html The KLA: braced to defend and control] [[Jane's Information Group]]
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,990555,00.html Kosovo's Army in Waiting] [[Time (magazine)|TIME magazine]]
*[http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/a990620a.htm KLA-NATO] Demilitarization and transformation agreement.
*[[International Institute for Strategic Studies|IISS]]: "The Kosovo Liberation Army" - Volume 4, Issue 7 - August 1998[http://www.iiss.org/publications/strategic-comments/past-issues/volume-4---1998/volume-4---issue-7/the-kosovo-liberation-army]
*[http://www.kosovapress.com/ Kosova Press] Ex-KLA News Agency, now close to the [[Democratic Party of Kosovo]]
*Government of Serbia (2003): White Book on KLA ([http://www.media.srbija.sr.gov.yu/medeng/documents/albanian_terrorism_crime1.pdf Part 1], [http://www.media.srbija.sr.gov.yu/medeng/documents/albanian_terrorism_crime2.pdf Part 2])
*[http://www.kosovoliberationarmy.com/ Independent site detailing atrocities of KLA as well as Bosniaks, Croats and Nazis against the Serbian people]


[[Category:Irregular military]]
{{NOW music albums}}
[[Category:History of Kosovo]]
[[Category:National liberation movements]]
[[Category:Albanian separatism]]


[[ar:جيش تحرير كوسوفو]]
[[Category:2001 albums]]
[[be:Войска Вызвалення Косава]]
[[Category:Now That's What I Call Music! albums]]<!--*** All albums in this category automatically belong to [[Category:Compilation albums]] (as subcategory), so don't include twice ***-->
[[bg:Армия за освобождение на Косово]]
[[Category:Christmas compilation albums]]
[[ca:Exèrcit d'Alliberament de Kosovo]]
[[cs:Kosovská osvobozenecká armáda]]
[[da:UÇK]]
[[de:UÇK]]
[[es:UÇK]]
[[fr:Armée de libération du Kosovo]]
[[hr:Oslobodilačka vojska Kosova]]
[[it:Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës]]
[[he:צבא שחרור קוסובו]]
[[nl:Kosovo Bevrijdingsleger]]
[[ja:コソボ解放軍]]
[[no:Kosovos frigjøringshær]]
[[pl:UÇK]]
[[pt:Exército de Libertação do Kosovo]]
[[ru:Армия Освобождения Косова]]
[[sq:Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës]]
[[sl:Osvobodilna vojska Kosova]]
[[sr:Ослободилачка војска Косова]]
[[fi:Kosovon vapautusarmeija]]
[[sv:UÇK]]

Revision as of 08:03, 11 October 2008

Kosovo Liberation Army
(Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës)
LeadersHashim Thaçi, Agim Çeku, Ramush Haradinaj
Dates of operation1981 - 1999
Active regionsKosovo
AlliesAlbania, NATO
OpponentsYugoslavia
File:Uck-prishtin18-99.jpg
KLA troops march on the streets of Pristina on September 18, 1999 during a last parade organized by the KLA before the deadline for the army's demilitarization as agreed with the NATO-led KFOR force.

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

Its campaign against Serbian security forces precipitated a major Yugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998-1999. Military intervention by Yugoslav security forces and Serb militias within Kosovo prompted an exodus of Kosovar Albanians and a refugee crisis that eventually caused NATO to intervene militarily in order to stop what was widely identified (by NATO nations, human rights organizations, the EU, and western media) as an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.[1] [2]

The conflict was ended by a negotiated agreement that requested UN to take over the administration and political process, including local institutional building and determine the final status of the region.

History

File:1 komandant-selimi.jpg
KLA Commander Selimi

In February 1996 the KLA undertook a series of attacks against targets that included police stations and Serb government offices in Western Kosovo.[3] The Serbian authorities denounced it as a terrorist organization and increased the number of security forces in the region. This had the counter-productive effect of boosting the credibility of the embryonic KLA among the Kosovo Albanian population.

Foreign volunteers

The KLA included in its ranks foreign volunteers from Sweden, Belgium, the UK, Germany, the US [4], and France [5]. 30-40 Volunteers from the Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association also participated in training KLA troops [6].

The KLA usually rewarded after service its international volunteers with a passage home, as a gesture of thanks. [7]

Aftermath (post-1999)

After the war, the KLA was transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, which worked alongside NATO forces patrolling the province.[8] The KLA legacy remains powerful within Kosovo. Its former members still play a major role in Kosovar politics.

Its former political head Hashim Thaçi is now the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Prime Minister of Kosovo since January 2008.

The KLA's former military head, Agim Çeku, after the war became Prime Minister of Kosovo. The move caused some controversy in Serbia, as Belgrade regarded him as a war criminal, though he was never indicted by the Hague tribunal [2].

Ramush Haradinaj, a former KLA commander, served briefly as Prime Minister of Kosovo before he willfully turned himself up to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague to stand trial on accusations against him for war crimes [3] and was acquited of all charges.

Fatmir Limaj, one of the senior commanders of the KLA to also went through a trial process in The Hague, and was acquitted of all charges in November 2005 [4]. He is now minister of transport and telecommunication.

Hajredin Bala, an ex-KLA prison guard, was sentenced on 30 November 2005 to 13 years’ imprisonment for the mistreatment of three prisoners at the Llapushnik prison camp, his personal role in the "maintenance and enforcement of the inhumane conditions" of the camp, aiding the torture of one prisoner, and of participating in the murder of nine prisoners from the camp who were marched to the Berisha Mountains on 25 or 26 July 1998 and killed. Bala appealed the sentence and the appeal is still pending. [9]

Foreign support

In 1996 a British weekly newspaper, The European, carried an article by a French expert stating that "German civil and military intelligence services have been involved in training and equipping the rebels with the aim of cementing German influence in the Balkan area. (...) The birth of the KLA in 1996 coincided with the appointment of Hansjoerg Geiger as the new head of the BND (German secret Service). (...) The BND men were in charge of selecting recruits for the KLA command structure from the 500,000 Kosovars in Albania." [10] Former senior adviser to the German parliament Matthias Küntzel treid to prove later on that German secret diplomacy had been instrumental in helping the KLA since its creation.[11]

James Bissett, Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania in 1990, recalled in 1992 and retired from Foreign Service to eventually take a job as the head of an International organization in Moscow, helping the Russian Government establish a new immigration agency, writes that "...as early as 1998, the Central Intelligence Agency assisted by the British Special Armed Services were arming and training Kosovo Liberation Army members in Albania to foment armed rebellion in Kosovo. (...) The hope was that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene ..." [12] According to Tim Judah, KLA representatives had already met with American, British, and Swiss intelligence agencies in 1996, and possibly "several years earlier" [13] and according to The Sunday Times, "American intelligence agents have admitted they helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army before NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia" [5].


Reported abuses

There have been reports of war crimes committed by the KLA both during and after the conflict. These have been directed against both Serbs, other ethnic minorities (principally Roma) and against ethnic Albanians accused of collaborating with the Serb authorities. [14] According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW):

The KLA was responsible for serious abuses… including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state. Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes. [15]

The KLA engaged in tit-for-tat attacks with Serbian nationalists in Kosovo, reprisals against ethnic Albanians who "collaborated" with the Serbian government, and bombed police stations and cafes known to be frequented by Serb officials, killing innocent civilians in the process. Most of its activities were funded by drug running, though its ties to community groups and Albanian exiles gave it local popularity.[8]

The Yugoslav authorities regarded the KLA a terrorist group[16], though many European governments did not. The Serbian government also reported that the KLA had killed and kidnapped no fewer than 3,276 civilians of various ethnic descriptions including some Albanians.[17] President Bill Clinton's special envoy to the Balkans, Robert Gelbard, described the KLA as, "without any questions, a terrorist group."[8]

The exact number of victims of the KLA is not known. According to a Serbian government report, from January 1 1998 to June 10 1999 the KLA killed 988 people and kidnapped 287; in the period from June 10 1999 to November 11 2001, when NATO took control in Kosovo, 847 were reported to have been killed and 1,154 kidnapped. This comprised both civilians and security force personnel: of those killed in the first period, 335 were civilians, 351 soldiers, 230 police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of killed civilians were Serbs, 230 Albanians, and 18 of other nationalities. Following the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo in June 1999, all casualties were civilians, the vast majority being Serbs.[17] According to Human Rights Watch, as “many as one thousand Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing since June 12 1999.” [6]

The Podujevo bus bombing was a terrorist attack on a civilian bus in a Serb-populated area near the town of Podujevo in Serbia, Kosovo on 16 February 2001 by Kosovar Albanian extremists. 12 Serb civilians who were on route to the Gračanica monastery site were killed and dozens more injured.[citation needed]

Carla Del Ponte, a long-time ICTY chief prosecutor claimed in her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals that there were instances of organ trafficking in 1999 after the end of the Kosovo War. These allegations were dismissed by Kosovan and Albanian authorities.[18] The allegations have been rejected by Kosovar authorities as fabrications while the ICTY has said "no reliable evidence had been obtained to substantiate the allegations" [19]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo - 4. March-June 1999: An Overview
  2. ^ Conflict In The Balkans: The Overview; Nato Authorizes Bomb Strikes; Primakov, In Air, Skips U.S. Visit - New York Times
  3. ^ "Unknown Albanian 'liberation army' claims attacks", Agence France Presse, February 17, 1996
  4. ^ http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=248236&apc_state=henibcr5b891da66b3662d9a16bf0d86e537b3b
  5. ^ http://www.aimpress.ch/dyn/trae/archive/data/199904/90420-001-trae-tir.htm
  6. ^ http://www.cfiva.org/cfiva/history/index.cfm
  7. ^ http://www.cfiva.org/cfiva/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&newsID=13
  8. ^ a b c Council on Foreign Relations, Terrorist Groups and Political Legitimacy, 16.03.2006
  9. ^ [1] The Hague, 21 April 2006 - Appeals Chamber
  10. ^ FALLGOT, Roger (1998): "How Germany Backed KLA", in The European, 21 September-27 September. pp 21-27.
  11. ^ KUNTZEL, Matthias (2002): Der Weg in den Krieg. Deutschland, die Nato und das Kosovo (The Road to War. Germany, Nato and Kosovo). Elefanten Press. Berlin, Germany. pp. 59-64.
  12. ^ James Bissett
  13. ^ JUDAH, Tim (2002): Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University Press. New Haven, USA. Page 120
  14. ^ Human Rights Watch, UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo
  15. ^ UNDER ORDERS:War Crimes in Kosovo, executive summary
  16. ^ MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base using a web.archive.org copy of 2 April 2007
  17. ^ a b .Victims of the Albanian terrorism in Kosovo-Metohija (Killed, kidnapped, and missing persons, January 1998 - November 2001)
    Žrtve albanskog terorizma na Kosovu i Metohiji (Ubijena, oteta i nestala lica, januar 1998 - novembar 2001)
  18. ^ The Daily Telegraph, Serb prisoners 'were stripped of their organs in Kosovo war', 14.04.2008
  19. ^ http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2008/pb080416.htm

General references

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

External links

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