PRISTINA: Thousands of Kosovo war veterans staged a protest rally Thursday against a war crimes court in The Hague that they accused of “distorting history” over its prosecution of former guerilla leaders.
Chanting the Kosovo Liberation Army name and waving flags bearing the symbols of ethnic Albanian guerrillas, protesters filled a central square in Pristina and streets around the government headquarters.
“The special court is biased, anti-KLA and anti-Kosovo,” Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans organization, told the crowd.
“The court has deviated from its mission and is distorting history,” he said.
Several ex-military figures, including former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, are being prosecuted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during and after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces.
The conflict, which ended after a NATO air campaign ousted Serbian military and police from the territory, left around 13,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Albanian civilians.
Kosovo courts have prosecuted war crimes by Albanians and Serbs in the past, but the special court was set up in The Hague due to the difficulty in securing witnesses for trials against prominent KLA leaders at home.
A court in Pristina is preparing to try dozens of Serb police and military officers for one of the worst massacres of the war, in which 370 civilians were killed.
Opponents of the special court decry the use of evidence supplied by Serbian authorities however.
The tribunal, staffed by international judges, has pursued several KLA members since 2023. Apart from Thaci, other senior figures being prosecuted include former intelligence chief, Kadri Veseli, a regional commander Rexhep Selimi and KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi.
All are considered KLA founders and enjoy great popularity within the ranks of the former guerrillas, but are accused of war crimes.
“Our history is being rewritten by the court,” said Gazmend Syla, vice president of the War Veterans Organization. “This shakes the foundations of our state.”
Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s independence, and talks to normalize relations between the neighbors have all but collapsed.
Kosovo ex-guerrillas rally against war crimes court
https://arab.news/v2tw6
Kosovo ex-guerrillas rally against war crimes court
- Hysni Gucati: ‘The court has deviated from its mission and is distorting history’
- Special court was set up in The Hague due to the difficulty in securing witnesses for trials against prominent KLA leaders at home
Saudi ambassador becomes first foreign envoy to meet Bangladesh’s new PM
- Tarique Rahman took oath as PM last week after landslide election win
- Ambassador Abdullah bin Abiyah also meets Bangladesh’s new FM
Dhaka: Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Dhaka became on Sunday the first foreign envoy to meet Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman since he assumed the country’s top office.
Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party made a landslide win in the Feb. 12 election, securing an absolute majority with 209 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
The son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, he was sworn in as the prime minister last week.
The Saudi government congratulated Rahman on the day he took the oath of office, and the Kingdom’s Ambassador Abdullah bin Abiyah was received by the premier in the Bangladesh Secretariat, where he also met Bangladesh’s new foreign minister.
“Among the ambassadors stationed in Dhaka, this is the first ambassadorial visit with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman since he assumed office,” Saleh Shibli, the prime minister’s press secretary, told Arab News.
“The ambassador conveyed greetings and best wishes to Bangladesh’s prime minister from the king and crown prince of Saudi Arabia … They discussed bilateral matters and ways to strengthen the ties among Muslim countries.”
Rahman’s administration succeeded an interim government that oversaw preparations for the next election following the 2024 student-led uprising, which toppled former leader Sheikh Hasina and ended her Awami League party’s 15-year rule.
New Cabinet members were sworn in during the same ceremony as the prime minister last week.
Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman is a former UN official who served as Bangladesh’s national security adviser during the interim government’s term.
He received Saudi Arabia’s ambassador after the envoy’s meeting with the prime minister.
“The foreign minister expressed appreciation for the Saudi leadership’s role in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and across the Muslim Ummah. He also conveyed gratitude for hosting a large number of Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom and underscored the significant potential for expanding cooperation across trade, investment, energy, and other priority sectors, leveraging the geostrategic positions of both countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Saudi ambassador expressed his support to the present government and his intention to work with the government to enhance the current bilateral relationship to a comprehensive relationship.”
Around 3.5 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia. They have been joining the Saudi labor market since 1976, when work migration to the Kingdom was established during the rule of the new prime minister’s father.
Bangladeshis are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and the largest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh and send home more than $5 billion in remittances every year.
