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Acquitted ex-warlord gets hero's welcome in Kosovo (Roundup)
Apr 4, 2008, 18:30 GMT
Pristina - Former Kosovo rebel commander and prime minister Ramush Haradinaj returned home Friday to a hero's welcome after being acquitted of alleged war crimes against Serbs.
A drummer group and hundreds of cheering people, some waving Albanian and US flags, greeted Haradinaj at the airport in Pristina, the capital of newly independent Kosovo, when he arrived from The Hague.
'I am pleased to be ... back with my family and among the citizens of Kosovo, where I belong,' he said later in a televised speech.
Kosovars now 'have the chance to prove to everyone, and above all our closest neighbours, that Kosovo is a place for all its citizens' and that its place is in the European Union and NATO, he said.
The Hague-based tribunal for war crimes in former Yugoslavia ruled Thursday that there was not enough evidence to convict Haradinaj, 39, but also said key witnesses refused to testify for fear of reprisal.
The verdict caused outrage in Serbia, where leading politicians condemned it as 'shameful' and a mockery of justice.
In Kosovo, ethnic Albanians - still euphoric over the declaration of independence from Serbia in February - partied in the streets to celebrate a man they consider a hero. Ethnic Albanians constitute about 90 per cent of Kosovo's population.
Kosovo media hailed the acquittal as a vindication of his group's guerrilla war against Belgrade in 1998-99, which led to a brutal reaction by Serb security forces and NATO's air war that broke Serbia's hold on Kosovo.
Haradinaj was tried for his role as one of the top commanders in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), which launched a guerrilla war against Belgrade's rule over the majority Albanians in the former province.
After the war, Haradinaj joined other UCK leaders in exchanging combat fatigues for suits. He became prime minister in late 2004, but quit his post and surrendered to The Hague tribunal when he was indicted for war crimes three months later.
Serbia, which still claims sovereignty over Kosovo, has branded the UCK a terrorist organization and has compiled massive legal cases against its commanders, including Haradinaj, the current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and his predecessor, Agim Ceku.
Serbian prosecutors claim that the three, along with other UCK fighters, killed, tortured and maltreated hundreds of Kosovo Serbs, including policemen, soldiers and civilians.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
...but the story is about how they let this asshole slide, not how great Hillary is at lying about snipers, her so-called support of the troops but not the mission, etc.
One can say that everything we know, or everything we are capable of doing can be turned against what we are, Paul Valerye once said. It turns, thus, against humanity. Acquitting verdict to Ramush Haradinaj, by IWTY in Hague, is the evidence against that court and against everything because of which it is established in the first place. And it is established to prosecute war crimes...
In stead of that, victims are sacrificed once again and those few who trusted in that tribunal, now feel betrayed, frustrated, helpless... To tell the truth, it is evidenced that KLA did do crimes, but evidences that Haradinaj is responsible for them 'couldn't be found' or they are buried. ..
The course of the facts, unfortunately, implies to countless oversights. Haradinaj's, fabulously expensive defense, provided by Tony Blair wife's law firm, wasn't sufficient guaranty of this outcome if it wasn't for the systematical killings of all the crucial witnesses. Nine of them were killed in a single day. Why did no one provide them with a witness protection program to guarantee their security? How could that happen in the first place!? In what kind of atmosphere of fear for your own life and for the lives of your dearest, the only two remaining witnesses in the end decided not to repeat their testimonies in front of the court?!
Haradinaj was permitted to defend from freedom, which isn't very much strange, but the real odd is in the fact that he was permitted to be politically active as well.
What can we feel now if not the fear or disgust, knowing that the biggest war criminal n Europe after WWII is free of charge and free as a bird to continue with his atrocities. And Albanians (not Serbs) are the ones afraid the most. Haradinaj's path from petty criminal, through drug dealer, arm smuggler, terrorist and mass murderer to the Prime Minister is really impressive. He himself admits all of it in his book. I just can't understand this world, especially the so called civilized part of it which in this case supports a guy like Ramush Haradinaj
page: 1
JD WebsterApr 4th, 2008 - 21:37:47
Kosovo was a serious success story for the Clinton legacy. Bill Clinton rid the world of a dictator just as bad as Saddam and stopped an ethnic civil war genocide with few American casualties. We could use that type of knowledge back in the White House, and it's a damn shame that Obama has been willing to be such a traitor to his own party by slamming Bill Clinton.
That's why many Democrats would never vote for Obama. He's an unloyal traitor.
Republicans would never vote Obama either. So that's a lie. Republicans don't say bad things about their own President, their own leadership and they don't like people who hate America.
Obama's a traitor to his Party, he calls himself a Republican but he's not as loyal as a Republican's dog.
And now we know the First Lady was flying around there trying to help too-- and bringing corny comedians just to cheer up isolated soldiers? That means a lot. She organized the trip by herself too.
The lady's got heart and class. The Lifelong Bowler is not half as tough or smart. He doesn't care about Democrats anymore than he is a Republican.
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