Macedonian Albanian leader calls for unification
of Albanian-populated regions
BBC
Monitoring Europe (Political) - December 13, 2005 Tuesday
Text of
report in English by Macedonian news agency Makfax
Arben Xhaferri,
the leader of largest Albanian opposition party in Macedonia [Democratic Party
of Albanians, DPA - PDSh in Albanian], called for unification of territories
populated by Albanians, noting that Albania should unite with Kosovo and western
Macedonia.
Makfax news agency quotes Xhaferri as saying in Tirana that
unification of Albanian territories in a single state is in the context of
resolving Albanian issue, which holds the key to resolution of the crisis in the
region.
"Albanian issue is not a fiction or romanticism but reality. The
process of assimilation of Albanians has been brought to a halt. The process of
major move-out is also brought to a halt, and now all we have to do is to
comprehend the reality," Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) leader Arben
Xhaferri said in an interview to Albanian television Klan.
Asked by the
journalist whether his concept might sound extreme and trigger negative impact
on Albanians at time when the international community made clear that there will
be no shifting of borders in the region, Xhaferri said "the inviolability of
borders is a technical issue aimed to halt violence, however, the right to
self-determination is much above the border issue."
Xhaferri said another
argument that backs his position is the fact that "since establishing of the
United Nations, the state borders across the world have been changed on more
than 180 occasions".
The visiting DPA leader Arben Xhaferri attends a
roundtable meeting on Albanian issues, organized by the Institute of Dialogue
and Communications.
Source: Makfax news agency, Skopje, in English 1243
gmt 13 Dec 05
Copyright 2005 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted
for Fair Use only.
HAGUE TRIBUNAL IGNORED EVIDENCE AGAINST KOSOVO
COMMANDER - SERBIAN JUDGE
BBC Monitoring
International Reports - December 13, 2005, Tuesday
Text of report by
Kosovo Serb radio Kontakt Plus on 13 December
[Announcer] Material
evidence suggesting the guilt of the former Kosovo Liberation Army [UCK in
Albanian; OVK in Serbian] commander for Klecka, Fatmir Limaj - evidence of
giving orders and murdering Serb civilians - was submitted to the Hague
tribunal, an investigative magistrate in the Pristina County Court, Danica
Marinkovic, today said in Kosovska Mitrovica. However, she added, this evidence
had not been used in the proceedings [against Limaj], which resulted in his
acquittal two weeks ago.
In an interview with the investigative
magistrate on 6 August 1998, members of the OVK, the brothers Bekim and Luan
Mazreku, gave all the details about crimes against the civilian population in
Klecka where Fatmir Limaj was the commander of OVK headquarters in this place,
Judge Marinkovic said.
She added that they [the two brothers] had also
told her what had taken place in Malisevo, after they had become members of the
OVK and had put on uniforms and taken up arms. They said that they had carried
out orders given by Commander Fatmir Limaj.
Luan Mazreku said that he
guarded Lapusnik prison at the time, of which Limaj was also in
charge.
[Marinkovic] Photocopies of all the evidence were submitted to
the prosecution in The Hague and the tribunal in The Hague, all translated into
English. I have been summoned by the Hague investigators to testify about events
in Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] on a number of occasions. However, they exclusively
wanted me to testify about Racak [village where large number of Albanians were
killed in early 1999], and were in no mood to hear my story about what was
happening in Klecka and how many civilians died there - they did not want to
hear that those crimes could have been committed by Fatmir
Limaj.
[Announcer] The Mazreku brothers gave all the details about the
Serb civilians abducted from Orahovac, including women and children. All of them
were transferred to Malisevo, and then to Klecka village, where Kosovo
Liberation Army headquarters was located, under the command of Fatmir Limaj -
who gave orders to abuse the civilians and then execute them, Judge Marinkovic
reported parts of the Mazreku brothers' testimony.
[Marinkovic] They
[Mazreku brothers] testified that ten civilians had been executed, including
three women who were picked from that first row [as heard]. They saw that they
[the women] had been raped, those three women. As to the scale of these
incidents, and what else was happening there, we can only guess, given that we
found a large number of human bones at the scene - I cannot tell their number -
some of them were burnt, some had already turned to ashes, and some were still
burning.
I could never forget a child's hand, like this, the way it was
burning and the smell of the burning flesh, I could never erase this from my
memory - it was so sad. God forbid that it should ever happen
again.
[Announcer] Criminal proceedings against Bekim and Luan Mazreku
are still in progress and these are the responsibility of the court in Nis. In
2000, they were sentenced to 20 years in prison at Pristina County Court.
Following the appeal of the defence lawyers, the Supreme Court of Serbia
annulled the case and ordered a repeated trial. On 26 March 2002, the Mazreku
brothers were transferred to Kosmet, along with other ethnic Albanian inmates
then detained in Serbian prisons and they are currently unavailable to our
authorities, Judge Marinkovic said.
Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian
1500 gmt 13 Dec 05
Copyright 2005 Financial Times Information
Global
News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC
Source: Financial Times Information Limited
Posted for Fair Use
only.
