War comes back to Kosovo?

[Ivo Skoric]

http://www.kurir-info.co.yu/Dnevne-vesti/V-14-26052004.htm

Hari Holkeri, the UN proconsul of Kosovo, resigned yesterday. His 
mandate was up in August, but he decided to cut it short at the 
advice of his physician. He is to be replaced by Dick Spring, an 
Irish Labour politician.

Analysts read more than health reasons into Holkeri's resignation: a 
couple of days ago new Hague tribunal indictments arrived to Kosovo - 
one against Hasim Taci, another against Ramus Haradinaj, and another 
two against two other high level commanders of what used to be KLA.

Holkeri warned for some time that such indictments may incite inter-
ethnic violence in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians demonstrated in March 
this year that they are capable of ethnic cleansing and burning 
religious objects, just as their former tormentors, the Serbs, were.

And as every ethnic group in the region treats its war crime suspects 
as national heroes, they are unlikely to give up Taci and Haradinaj 
without a fight. NATO commanders are worried that they will not be 
able to protect UNMIK officials and their own forces in Kosovo, if 
the indictments are made public. Serbian minority, of course, would 
probably face imminent expulsion or worse. Holkeri decided that his 
frail health could not take that any more.

As the largest European US military base (Bondsteel) is in Kosovo, 
one can speculate that sudden move by the ICTY to indict KLA leaders, 
may indeed be timed to make US forces fight on one front more. The 
Hague and Bush administration never got along well. And this move 
will incite violence, and will require more US military commitment in 
Kosovo, making it harder for Bush to fight his wars elsewhere, which 
may contribute to his political defeat in November - something that 
continental Europe, that stands behind the Hague, would cherish.

ivo
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Ivo Skoric
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Rutland VT 05701
802.775.7257
ivo at balkansnet.org
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