Sullla sconfitta elettorale dell'UCK/KLA

[Paola Lucchesi <paola.lucchesi@mail.inet.it>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20001031/aponline033119_000.htm

Kosovo Rebel Army Leader Faces Loss

By Merita Dhimgjoka
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2000; 3:31 a.m. EST

MALISEVO, Yugoslavia -- Beaten and jailed in Kosovo two years ago,
ethnic Albanian biology teacher Jakup Kastrati took action against his
tormentors - he voted them out of office.
     It wasn't the Serbs he rejected in Saturday's municipal elections.
He turned on candidates of the Kosovo Liberation Army, many of whom used
their image as "liberators" to take jobs, businesses and properties,
considering them spoils of a war they pretended they had won.
     "Saturday's ballot showed that people reject violence, regardless
of whether it comes from Serbs or Albanians," said Kastrati, who said he
and a party colleague were imprisoned by the KLA two years ago, when
they tried to verify a temporary cease-fire.
     The elections for municipal councils were widely seen as barometer
of the popularity of the former rebels' intent to bring independence to
the province, still officially part of Yugoslavia's republic of Serbia.
     Those elections - the first since U.N. rule began in June 1999 -
were a particularly important test for Hashim Thaci, the former
political chief of the now-disbanded KLA, and for Ibrahim Rugova, the
moderate leader who suffered disgrace during the war after appearing on
television in talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, while
Belgrade's troops rampaged.
     Results so far show that Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo
trounced Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo in elections for seats in
city and town halls. The victory was so complete that Rugova even
claimed victory in places like Malisevo, a stronghold of the rebel
movement where photographs of dead KLA commanders decorate cafes and
restaurants and songs praising rebel heroes drift from curbside cassette
recorders.
     The province's leading daily, Koha Ditore, suggested Thaci's party
"paid the price of inexperience, arrogant and violent behavior of part
of their membership."
     Kastrati, a supporter of Rugova's party, insists that such results
are no surprise. Kastrati points to a gaping hole in the concrete
terrace outside his office as proof of what he described as "constant
harassment."
     It was caused by an explosion in August, shortly before the opening
of the electoral campaign. Thaci and his party have denied
responsibility for such attacks.
     "They stage up these incidents themselves so they look like
victims," said Artan Pacarizi, a former KLA fighter who works for
Thaci's party in Malisevo.
     Kastrati also insisted that Thaci's supporters were involved in
clashes last week, when people attending a Rugova rally were stoned.
     The dispute between Rugova and Thaci started two years ago, when
the pacifist-minded leader refused to support the radical leaders of the
KLA, who were organizing an armed struggle for independence.
     Kastrati and party colleague Cen Desku were among the first
victims. Exactly two years ago Monday, international officials asked the
two men to verify a temporary cease-fire between the Serbs and the
rebels.
     A KLA soldier spirited them away to what was supposed to be a
meeting with local commanders. Instead, he says the rebels covered their
heads with hoods, handcuffed them, beat them and locked them up in a
"KLA prison" on a nearby mountain. They were released a month later.
     Malisevo supported the former freedom fighters until Yugoslav
troops overran the town in 1999. But residents drew the line when the
fighters returned and wanted to claim an extra share of the spoils, such
as homes and businesses of people still living there.
     "We don't want violence," said Ahmet Telaku, 38, whose house was
burned twice by the Serbs. "Milosevic suppressed us with violence for 10
years and at the end failed to defeat us. If Milosevic failed, no one
can ever succeed."
     Former KLA soldiers are having the most trouble accepting Thaci's
defeat.
     Ali Telaku, a former KLA fighter who lost his left leg last year in
a NATO bomb blast, struggles to support his wife and five children on a
$60 veteran's stipend. He fears the sacrifices he and others made are
being overlooked by pampered Pristina politicians.
     "My heart wanted those who fought the war against the (Serb)
occupiers to win the elections," Telaku said. "But people decided
otherwise."

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press