-Caveat Lector- KLA Impostors Add to Kosovo Chaos By MERITA DHIMGJOKA .c The Associated Press PRIZREN, Yugoslavia (AP) - Muharrem Halluci didn't give it a second thought when someone in a Kosovo Liberation Army uniform impounded his car. The underequipped rebel army often ``borrowed'' vehicles in its fight against much better outfitted Yugoslav forces. But when Halluci, 54, went to the local KLA headquarters to get the car back after the war's end, rebel army officers told him they knew nothing about the vehicle - or the man who had seized it. KLA officials say that whenever the rebel army took civilian cars, they provided the owners with official papers and told them when they would give the vehicle back. ``It's a mess,'' Halluci sighed. ``Now a KLA soldier may not be a KLA soldier. He may not even be a Kosovar.'' Amid the chaos of postwar Kosovo, it's difficult to tell genuine KLA fighters from impostors. Just 25 miles down the road in Kukes, Albania, KLA uniforms sell for about $30. Refugees buy them so that they can return home looking like heroes. Thieves and smugglers from across the border in Albania use them as a disguise. Kosovo - where NATO has been struggling since mid-June to restore law and order after a 78-day bombing campaign - has fast become a land of opportunity for anyone seeking a fast buck. At the Yugoslav-Albanian border, routine controls have broken down. During the war, fleeing ethnic Albanians were stripped of their documents and license plates. Now, according to Albanian police who spoke on condition of anonymity, any Albanian-speaking person who claims to be a refugee is allowed to cross into Kosovo - even those without passports or license plates on their vehicles. Police say the ranks of the refugees include Albanian criminals anxious to take part in the looting of Serb homes or establish smuggling rings in Kosovo, which had a much higher living standard than Albania. On the Yugoslav side of the border, German peacekeepers routinely stop cars and tractors trying to cross into Albania loaded with goods that the Germans suspect have been stolen in Kosovo. ``One day, we turned back a tractor with a trailer loaded with used furniture,'' said German Lt. Norbert Schindler. He admitted, however, that it is impossible to screen every vehicle. The Germans also lack both the means and the legal mandate to arrest motorists simply on suspicion that they may have looted goods. If someone is turned back at the border, he can wait until the next shift change at the checkpoint and try his luck again. ``With sometimes up to 20,000 people crossing in one day, we simply cannot remember all the faces,'' Schindler said. But the Germans have taken 60 prisoners, most of whom are accused of looting, car theft and rape. ``They are accused of serious crimes. We will keep them here until the court starts functioning so they can go on trial,'' said Lt. Col Dietmar Jeserich at the German KFOR troops' headquarters here. He said some 25 cars are being reported stolen every night, some at gunpoint. But stealing the neighbor's cows, chickens or roof tiles is considered a minor crime and punishment is only up to three days' detention. Last week, peacekeepers handed over to Albanian police three robbers who had jumped onto a bus carrying returning refugees and robbed them of jewelry and money. For Albanians longing to travel abroad, Kosovo is now the only place they can visit without a visa. For some, it's also a good place to do business - legal or otherwise. In the streets of Prizren, Kosovo's second-largest city, farmers from Albania sell fruit and vegetables out of their trucks at sky-high prices. Others work as unlicensed taxi drivers or offer black-market gasoline, brought over from Albanian at $5.20 a gallon. ``Now that the refugees are leaving Albania, the world will forget about us again,'' said Kadri Resuli, 35, an Albanian from a village near Kukes as he peddled cigarettes on a roadside. ``We helped them during these months, now they should help us.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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