37 thoughts on “Hey, I know that guy”

1. It is good that they missed. It appears that Government is being targeted at all levels.

   That was a pretty good shot…probably an EU or USA -trained mortar shooter.

   Under Ahtisaari’s scheme, the EU is next in the cross-hairs. Not that the biggest EU aggressors aren’t already there under the original occupation. They will just be viewed differently.

2. Yes there were stories in the Kosovo media that if Mobilkom from Austria won the bid the new headquarters would be based in Belgrade.

   I dont know the details but would not be surprised if Mobilkom have a case.

   As I’ve mentioned before its a pity that Telekom Srbije isnt being allowed to continue operating in Kosovo – as they do in Bosnia and now Montenegro. It would drive prices down and offer an alternative to customers.

   In my view both these decisions are political and have nothing to do with the free market. How one is supposed to ‘educate’ the populace about the worthiness of the free market when they are constantly being pandered to on a populist ethnic level is a question that should be put to the international authorities.

3. @ Todd Thompson [sigh]:

   “It appears that Government is being targeted at all levels.”

   No, it doesn’t appear so at all.

   “That was a pretty good shot…probably an EU or USA -trained mortar shooter.”

   Because Albanians are too stupid to figure these things out for themselves.

   You do know that Kosovo contains over a hundred thousand veterans of the Yugoslav Army, right?

   “Under Ahtisaari’s scheme, the EU is next in the cross-hairs.”

   Number of UN employees injured or killed in Kosovo: zero.

   Three sentences, all wrong. Well, what can you do.

   @bganon: It wouldn’t surprise me either, although I’m skeptical of the story about the stories. Mobilkom wouldn’t be that stupid, and not many people would believe it could be that stupid. Though I suppose it’s plausible that rivals tried spreading the story anyway.

   As for Telekom Srbije, it operates in Bosnia and Montenegro by international agreement. You’ll notice that Hungarian and Croat phone chips don’t work so well in Serbia.

   Also, in addition to simple nationalism, the Kosovars have a legitimate reason to be annoyed with Telekom Srbije. Here’s why.

   When you make an international telephone call, the telephone company in the destination country charges a “termination fee” for connecting the call. So, if you call from Belgrade to London, and it costs ten cents a minute, probably two cents per minute is British Telecom’s termination fee.

   Now, because Kosovo is not a country, it doesn’t have an international calling code. Therefore, all international calls are still routed through Belgrade. TS charges the callers a termination fee, then passes the call on to Kosovo. Telekom Kosovo is the one who must actually terminate the call. This means that Telekom Kosovo does all the work — running the switches, maintaining the lines, and so forth — while Telekom Srbije pockets the money. This is costing Telekom Kosovo an estimated $20 – $30 million per year.

   So even if Belgrade and Prishtina were best friends, there’d be a strong incentive to play hardball with TS.

   Doug M.

4. Doug,

   You’re wrong and don’t have any facts to base your assertion. The following supports my statement:

   1. Government targeting:

   Presidential Assassination Attempt:

   Rugova was again elected President by the Kosovo Assembly. Nonetheless, he still encountered violent opposition. On March 15, 2005, he escaped unhurt when a bomb exploded in a dustbin as his car passed by.

   Assembly Assassination:

   January 2002: LDK member of the Assembly Smajl Hajdaraj is murdered.

   Municipal Government Assassination:

   24 April 2001: Ismet Raci, President of the Klina Municipality and a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), is killed in his apartment building in Klina.

   Kosovo Police Service Assassinations:

   Three KPS Officers from Peja region were killed in separate ambushes as they drove to or from work. The victims were investigators in serious
   crime cases. KPS investigator Hajdar Ahmeti, 27, was shot dead near Gjakova on 6 September as he drove home around midnight in his own car. In
   the second incident on 24 November, three KPS investigators were driving to the Peja Regional headquarters when another vehicle overtook their
   car and opened fire. Sabahate Tolaj, 35, a female KPS officer, who was driving the vehicle, died on the spot. Isuf Haklaj, 47, wasseriously
   injured in the attack and died of his wounds, while the third officer was slightly wounded.

   I know it goes on and on and I think you do too.

   2. As far as KFOR attacks:

   March 2004: “The seemingly spontaneous street war that erupted yesterday between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo confirms exactly what kind of a ’success’ the West has created in Kosovo. At least 22 people, including a French KFOR peacekeeper reported dead and hundreds more wounded; machine gunners firing at will, churches and mosques ablaze, whole populations chafing at the bit, programmed to seek and destroy.And through it all, the NATO “liberators” have become everyone’s target. Aside from the French casualty, 10 Irish soldiers, 20 Norwegian troops, some Swedes, Bulgarians and several Greeks have also been attacked.

   UNMIK Attacks: “According to the UN Mission, six soldiers were injured this afternoon when a hand grenade was thrown at their hotel in southern Mitrovica by a crowd of Kosovo Albanians. In another incident, a grenade was thrown near the UN Mission’s headquarters in southern Mitrovica, wounding three KFOR troops and two gendarmes. In a third grenade attack, nine French soldiers were wounded, bringing the total of injured soldiers and policemen to 20.

   Briefing the press today in Pristina, UNMIK spokesperson Susan Manuel said the UN “cannot begin to implement any concrete measures in the face of a mob attacking peacekeeping soldiers, international police and civilians.”

   3.) As far as the Albanians being stupid, that’s your statement. You have to live with it. It’s wrong. The mortar attack was a good shot and the NATO countries (the EU and USA) that trained them should be proud that their training really seems to have taken root. It’s like days when they aided the Afghans against Russia. Now there’s something they can be proud of.

   I think that leaves you with Zero correct. Just like before.

5. Doug,

   Government targeting: You’re wrong and don’t have any facts to base your assertion. The following supports my statement:

   Presidential Assassination Attempt:

   Rugova was again elected President by the Kosovo Assembly. Nonetheless, he still encountered violent opposition. On March 15, 2005, he escaped unhurt when a bomb exploded in a dustbin as his car passed by.

   Assembly Assassination:

   January 2002: LDK member of the Assembly Smajl Hajdaraj is murdered.

   Municipal Government Assassination:

   24 April 2001: Ismet Raci, President of the Klina Municipality and a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), is killed in his apartment building in Klina.

   Kosovo Police Service Assassinations:

   Three KPS Officers from Peja region were killed in separate ambushes as they drove to or from work. The victims were investigators in serious
   crime cases. KPS investigator Hajdar Ahmeti, 27, was shot dead near Gjakova on 6 September as he drove home around midnight in his own car. In
   the second incident on 24 November, three KPS investigators were driving to the Peja Regional headquarters when another vehicle overtook their
   car and opened fire. Sabahate Tolaj, 35, a female KPS officer, who was driving the vehicle, died on the spot. Isuf Haklaj, 47, wasseriously
   injured in the attack and died of his wounds, while the third officer was slightly wounded.

   I know it goes on and on and I think you do too.

   As far as KFOR attacks:

   March 2004: “The seemingly spontaneous street war that erupted yesterday between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo confirms exactly what kind of a ’success’ the West has created in Kosovo. At least 22 people, including a French KFOR peacekeeper reported dead and hundreds more wounded; machine gunners firing at will, churches and mosques ablaze, whole populations chafing at the bit, programmed to seek and destroy.And through it all, the NATO “liberators” have become everyone’s target. Aside from the French casualty, 10 Irish soldiers, 20 Norwegian troops, some Swedes, Bulgarians and several Greeks have also been attacked.

   UNMIK Attacks: “According to the UN Mission, six soldiers were injured this afternoon when a hand grenade was thrown at their hotel in southern Mitrovica by a crowd of Kosovo Albanians. In another incident, a grenade was thrown near the UN Mission’s headquarters in southern Mitrovica, wounding three KFOR troops and two gendarmes. In a third grenade attack, nine French soldiers were wounded, bringing the total of injured soldiers and policemen to 20.

   Briefing the press today in Pristina, UNMIK spokesperson Susan Manuel said the UN “cannot begin to implement any concrete measures in the face of a mob attacking peacekeeping soldiers, international police and civilians.”

   3.) As far as the Albanians being stupid, that’s your statement. You have to live with it. It’s wrong. The mortar attack was a good shot and the NATO countries (the EU and USA) that trained them should be proud that their training really seems to have taken root. It’s like days when they aided the Afghans against Russia. Now there’s something they can be proud of.

   I think that leaves you with Zero correct. Just like before.

6. Ah, the Kosovars/Bosniaks=Bin Laden meme. Haven’t seen that one for a while.

   Anyway, like most of the eastern-bloc armies, the JNA (and the territorial forces) had more mortar sections in its infantry battalions than is usual elsewhere. The 81mm mortar was a big export hit.

   Regarding Mobilkom, it’s curious no-one’s mentioned that the Big Boss is a Croat. I’d have thought Todd or a meta-Todd would have already explained why that means the Vatican and the Nazis are behind it all.

7. Alex, I don’t think Todd swings that way. Narrow focus there — it’s all about the Albanians, brutes and savages.

   Todd, you’re expending a lot of effort in being stupid. Your initial statement was “the government is being targeted at all levels”. To support this, you cite five episodes of violence over the last six years. But I could come up with just as many from Serbia — and you’ll notice the Kosovars haven’t managed to kill their head of government yet. Does that mean the Serbian government is being targeted at all levels?

   Is Kosovo still a violent place? Sure. Government officials or cops who get in the way of powerful business and crime figures are placing themselves in danger. Corruption is endemic. Business, crime and government are tangled together in a very nasty way.

   But how this translates into a “targetting of government at all levels” (by whom?) escapes me.

   Again, it’s not even unique to Kosovo. The links between organized crime, paramilitary organizations, and shady business? That’s a pattern common to the whole region — just ask Arkan or Legija.

   Targeting KFOR: I didn’t say a thing about KFOR. Quite deliberately — KFOR is there to place itself in danger, so you’d expect some attacks. (In fact, I’d say KFOR haven’t placed themselves in danger enough. But that’s a story for another time.)

   I said UNMIK, because you were babbling about “targetting of government”, and UNMIK has been the de facto government of Kosovo for years.

   And here’s the thing: the Kosovars have left UNMIK personnel strictly alone. There have been demonstrations, threats, and some UNMIK cars blown up when nobody is around. But not one UNMIK staff has been injured.

   “NATO or EU trained”: neither NATO nor the EU has provided any military training for the Kosovars. Police training, yes. But that does not involve mortar fire. And before you start with the KLA, let’s note that the KLA didn’t make much use of mortars either… they’re not an ideal weapon for a small-unit based guerrilla force. They did have a few — purchased in the fire sale after the collapse of the Albanian government in 1997 — but they didn’t use them much. Insofar as the KLA used heavy weapons, they used grenade launchers and bigass Barrett M82 .50 caliber tripod-mounted sniper rifles (which they bought on the free market, at gun fairs in the US).

   The JNA, on the other hand, loved mortars. Absolutely loved them. Almost every squad had one, and everyone got training.

   So it’s a pretty good bet that the guys who shot off that mortar round were either JNA vets, or — more likely — guys who were trained by JNA vets. No EU or US involvement required. Yes, I know the West is the source of all evil, but maybe, just maybe, not in this particular case.

   Doug M.

8. You know, when I posted this, I thought “I’ll get a couple of comments from the pro-Serb commenters, at least one of which will be about how Albanians are savages and killers. The Albanian and pro-Albanian commenters will be completely silent.”

   I hate being right about stuff like this.

   Doug M.

9. Doug,

   Yeah, you’re always right. Despite the stupid facts that get in the way of your opinion.

   Don’t feel you’re alone though. The head in the sand Policy of the EU and USA is partly to blame. You are just a follower.

   I understand that frustration leads you to the only response you can muster – blatant insults and more baseless comments.

   And now you’re saying that grenade attacks that killed UN Peacekeepers and aimed at UNMIK isn’t the kind of violence that will be aimed at the EU. Sure.

   It’s OK.

   I’m done. Wow. That is a lot better than articulating facts.

10. (1)
    Seven people are in custody with regards to the attack on Anton Berisha. A group was caught by the police near the scene (presumably trying to run away) and some others in Prishtina. All of them seem to be “small fish” and no-one is sure who is behind them. However, I guess more will be found out in the near future as Kosovo is a small place and there are too many eyes and ears now that people connected with the crime are in custody.

    (2)
    Todd, I would like to refresh your (very) selective memory and remind you that the Serbian Prime Minister was murdered in the centre of Belgrade, the capital city, in front of the government building. Not to mention the murders of the minister of defence, deputy interior minister, director of the national airline JAT, Arkan, former Serbian president Ivan Stambolic and many others. The list is almost endless.

    However, to best illustrate your flawed arguments — why don’t you mention the attempted murder of one of the leading journalists and TIME writer Dejan Anastasijevic in the centre of Belgrade? Read: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1611396,00.html

    This follows the murder (beaten to death!) of reporter Milan Pantica five years ago in Jagodina, and, of course, the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija who was gunned down on April 11, 1999, in front of his apartment in downtown Belgrade. Read: http://blog.tagesspiegel.de/justworld/eintrag.php?id=177

    Should we also blame the NATO and EU for these murders?

    (3)
    bganon, Telekom Srbije has never paid a single Euro cent towards the Kosovar budget either in VAT or any form of tax. Not to mention the fact that is has not paid any licence fee either. Why would anyone want to allow such a company to operate in a country? It represents the ultimate case of unfair advantage against other competitors which have to pay VAT, pay taxes on profit, wages and other transactions. The stupidity of this argument is unsurpassed.

    (4)
    I don’t think that Mobilkom have a case since the tender was drafted and evaluated by a Scandinavian company in conjunction with the TRA, Kosovo Government, and UNMIK. UNMIK and foreign missions in Prishtina as well as the Scandinavian company have confirmed many times that the has been no foul play during the selection of the “second” (read below to find out why I am using quotes) mobile operator.

    (5)
    TRA last year (the first tender) had granted the mobile licence to a Peja-based company headed by the “Al Pacino” (as Doug described him). The foreign missions in Prishtina thought there was foul play and the tender was cancelled. Anton Berisha was accused of somehow “linking-up” with Peja’s “Al Pacino” (owner of Dukagjini Group) – although no proof has ever surfaced.

    Now, in the second tender Dukagjini Group, together with Kujtesa (a bunch of guys just as tech-savvy as IPKO Net guys, if not more — the leading internet service provider in Kosovo) and American and Italian companies won but failed to pay the licence fee of 81 million Euros. Doug, the Italian company was named: it was Eutelia. There were two American companies: one was called “Capital Management something…” and the other one was an accounting/billing company of some sort. The ownership of the Kosmocell consortium was 50:50, i.e. 50% of shares owned by Dukagjini Group and Kujtesa, and the other 50% by the Italian and American companies.

    To make the story more interesting, TRA and Anton Berisha disqualified Kosmocell. This implied to many people that Anton Berisha was not “linked-up” with Dukagjini Group. To further illustrate this, Kosmocell asked for a 48 hour extension of deadline because they had not received the formal notice for 2 days after the winner of the tender was announced on TV. Anton Berisha did not budge.

    IPKO Net and Telekom Slovenije were then announced as winners of the tender. They paid the licence within 48 hours and the story ended happily for them. It is worth mentioning that when Kosmocell won, IPKO Net said that they suspected no foul play.

    This all happened in mid-February. Anton Berisha was first attacked in late-February about 10 days or two weeks after IPKO Net paid the fee. I would doubt that “Al Pacino” is behind this as he would be the first suspect, and the tender is finally closed. Nothing can be changed now — Ipko Net and Telekom Slovenije have won the tender and it is the end of the story. It seems a stupid thing to do, kill someone and achieve nothing by doing so.

    (6)
    My personal opinion is that Anton Berisha was attacked because of his work to prevent the operation of illegal mobile operators in Kosovo. There are a few. Not least, the Telekom Srbije (064) and Telenor (063). Other illegal operators, but in a much smaller scale, are the Macedonian, Albanian and Montenegrin operators. Now, this is the only area where Anton Berisha personally can make a difference. As head of TRA he can take action to stop or prevent these illegal operators — who pay no VAT, no taxes whatsoever — entering the Kosovo territory. In fact, there is an Albanian businessman from Peja (called “Bananaman”, because he used to trade with bananas) who is doing all the dirty work for Serbian operators — setting up antennas, distributing top-up cards, and other trade activities — all on illegal basis. Bananaman has been linked for many years with Serbian businessman like Karic brothers and is seen by many Albanians as a traitor. However, he has got many good connections with the people in power and has only been attacked by the media. Anton Berisha has, nonetheless, taken actions against his illegal activities and dismantled a number of his antennas and made life difficult for him. And, I think that he is trying to either kill Anton Berisha or scare him off. Berisha shows absolutely no signs of getting rich and there is no proof that he been involved in corruption, but I, of course, cannot guarantee that. Nevertheless, I believe that the “big fish” is Peja’s Bananaman and/or other people doing the dirty job for illegal mobile operators in Kosovo. That’s why, in my post I wrote the “second” mobile operator because the fact is that there are at least 5 or 6 operators in Kosovo.

    (7)
    Finally, I have to apologise for such a long comment. However, to do this case any justice all the circumstances had to be explained. I hope this sheds more light into the case and I very much hope that all the people connected with the criminal act are caught and brought to justice.

    Many thanks,

    Filan Fisteku

11. ‘You’ll notice that Hungarian and Croat phone chips don’t work so well in Serbia.’

    ??? I havent had any problems contacting Croatian friends visiting Serbia so I’m not sure I understand.

    ‘TS charges the callers a termination fee, then passes the call on to Kosovo. Telekom Kosovo is the one who must actually terminate the call.’

    Thats interesting and I had noticed some delay in connection when talking with friends in Kosovo on a land line.

    Still I think if you take a look at the stats concerning how much MTS has lost as a result of their being declared an illegal operator on the territory of Kosovo this yearly sum you quote isnt so huge. I suggest you check the economic report made by the Serbian economic co-ordinator. Some figures may be exaggerated of course, but generally Serbia stands to massively lose out because of UNIMIK / international policy on land, state owned companies and similar.

    My point is so much who does what to whom. Its from the perspective of capitalism and a free market – ironically I dont support either particularly but these are the types of ‘values’ internationals are supposed to be teaching locals. I’d hate to be an economist working for the international administration in Kosovo trying to defend the barriers they help create or do not try to prevent.

12. ‘bganon, Telekom Srbije has never paid a single Euro cent towards the Kosovar budget either in VAT or any form of tax. Not to mention the fact that is has not paid any licence fee either. Why would anyone want to allow such a company to operate in a country? It represents the ultimate case of unfair advantage against other competitors which have to pay VAT, pay taxes on profit, wages and other transactions. The stupidity of this argument is unsurpassed.’

    Filan. Right off the bat Kosovo is not a country – not yet anyway. As you know very well Telcom Srbija was a legal operator on the territory of Kosovo. So this suggestion as if TS came from outside or has just appeared doesnt hold water. And of course TS hasnt paid money into the Kosovo budget – why should it when it isnt being allowed to continue operation? Property owned by TS has been illegally seized and working transmitters knocked down leaving customers unable to communicate. Some of those customers live in very poor conditions (Serbs and Albanians) and have no other means of informing the authorities if something untoward or worse happens.

    As for TS winning a license in Kosovo – that would be the day – as you hint:

    ‘Bananaman has been linked for many years with Serbian businessman like Karic brothers and is seen by many Albanians as a traitor’.

    In other words Serbian companies dont stand a chance in Kosovo because there would be public revolt ‘treachary’. That may be understandable or not but it is not capitalism, it is creating barriers to capitalism. So all the extra arguments are unnecessary about VAT and licences are a smokescreen as Serbian companies are discriminated against in Kosovo.

    Is Bananaman Ekrem Luka? I’m surprised you didnt name him Filan.

    Thanks for the informative post btw.

13. Don’t whine, Todd, it’s unseemly.

    Filan: wow, great post. Just a couple of comments.

    Suspects are in custody? That’s great news. I’ve been trying to follow this story but I had not heard this news.

    I did not name “Al Pacino” (though obviously you see the resemblance too). Nor did I suggest he was behind the attack. I just thought it was a funny coincidence. In English ‘funny’ can mean ‘amusing’ or ‘strange’ and I guess this was both.

    Both Kujtesa and iPKO claim to be the leading internet service providers in Kosovo. Certainly they’re both very competent companies.

    Doug M.

14. @bganon:

    “??? I havent had any problems contacting Croatian friends visiting Serbia so I’m not sure I understand.”

    That’s because they’re using roaming. When they cross the border, the chip flips over from the Croatian provider to Telekom Serbia (or whoever). The local provider of course charges for this service.

    Now imagine if the Croats had cell antennas scattered across Vojvodina so that Croat cell phones could continue to function without roaming, and without paying anything to the Serbian providers. That was the situation in Kosovo.

    I agree there’s no question of TS getting a license in Kosovo — the Kosovars would never grant it.

    On the other hand, turn the question around: suppose the Kosovars /would/ grant it. But they’d first require TS to pay a license fee to the Kosovar regulator, KTA. That’s standard practice everywhere.

    Would TS agree to that? Of course not — that would be recognizing KTA’s authority, and TS would never do that.

    So I don’t think you can entirely blame the Kosovars here.

    As to the issue of legality: this gets a bit pedantic, but UNMIK is the final legal authority in Kosovo. Serbia still has formal sovereignty but it does not have the power to make laws and regulations. Even the Russians recognize this. UNMIK says KTA has regulatory authority over telecoms in Kosovo. Legally, this puts them in a pretty strong position.

    I say a bit pedantic because this is really a political question, not a legal one.

    Doug M.

15. bganon,

    (1)
    Regarding the use of the word country, I was not implying that Kosovo is an independent state. I was merely using the word country to entail land. I understand that in Serbian the word country might imply an independent state, but in English that implication does not exist. See, for example, the Cambridge Dictionary Online which defines ‘country’ as follows: “an area of land considered in relation to a particular feature” URL: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=17672&dict=CALD

    The particular feature is the telecommunication market and the powers of Telecommunications Regulatory Authorities (TRA). The Kosovo TRA has powers and authority over the territory of Kosovo.

    (2)
    In 1959 the “Posta, Telefoni dhe Telegrafi i Kosovës” company was created by PTT Yugoslavia. PTT Kosovo was a separate independent unit of PTT Yugoslavia. From September 1990 PTT Kosovo was forcefully incorporated into PTT Serbia and (nearly) all Kosovar Albanians were expelled from their jobs because they were against this forceful takeover. Following the NATO intervention PTT Kosovo claimed back its assets and was re-launched as Post-Telecom of Kosovo. The UN accepts this scenario of events and, thus, only PTK was declared as a legal telecommunications operator in Kosovo by UNMIK in 1999. No one doubts that TS operated legally in Kosovo during the 1990s, however the laws that allowed TS to operate legally in Kosovo are now considered discriminatory by UN and the Kosovo authorities and thus the licence to TS was, in essence, revoked. The point is that today in Kosovo Telekom Srbije does not have a licence to operate and where they do, they do so illegally. These are the realities on the ground and are backed by laws and other legal regulations of the internationally recognised authorities in Kosovo (UNMIK and PISC). We can have a discussion on whether Telekom Srbije should or should not have a licence to operate in Kosovo, but the undisputed reality on the ground is that they do not have a licence and, thus, operate illegally.

    (3)
    The issue is the following: allowing TS to operate in Kosovo would amount to unfair advantage since they have no licence to operate, have not paid any licence fee, do not pay any VAT or any other taxes. You asked “why should it pay” money into the Kosovo budget. Well, if you want to operate in a country then you have to pay taxes, apply for a licence and pay a licence fee. Even PTK has had to pay licence fees after the arrival of UNMIK and, furthermore, has so far paid extra taxes because of the assumed “monopoly position” over the telecommunications market. Telekom Srbije has to accept the realities on the ground and the fact that they no longer have a licence to operate, and will have to reapply to enter the Kosovo market. Simply allowing them to continue their illegal operation without a licence, without paying VAT and taxes is not an option.

    (4)
    Regarding “Bananaman et al”, they have assisted Serbian companies to operate in Kosovo illegally, and thus given them unfair advantage. It comes as no surprise then that local population resent them. If, for instance, PTT Serbia forcefully takes over PPT Kosovo and expels Kosovar Albanians from work and a Kosovar Albanian businessman cooperates with these businesses and helps them to operate in Kosovo then the expelled workers and their families will consider the businessman as ‘traitor’. This pattern also applies to the banking sector where Kosovar Albanians lost millions of dollars as well as their jobs and a local businessman helps, say, “Karic Banka” then naturally all the people that have been effected by the forceful takeover of banks will resent and treat the local businessman as traitors.

    Having said this, I must add that today there are thousands and thousands of Kosovar Albanians who trade with Serbia and Serbian businesses and none of them are considered as traitors, nor should they be considered as such. Trading with Serbia today is not an issue, however, people like Ekrem Lluka have worked with businesses and people during the 1990s who wished nothing good for the Kosovar Albanians then the local feelings are different. So, please do not twist my words and try to imply that my statements entail that anyone who does or has done business with Serbian companies is considered as a traitor in Kosovo. This is absolutely not the case.

    (5)
    No, Bananaman is not Ekrem Lluka. Ekrem Lluka is the owner of Dukagjini Group (www.dukagjinigroup.com) and was described by Doug as “Al Pacino” of Peja. I don’t feel comfortable naming someone who I think might have some connection with an assassination attempt. All I will say is that Bananaman is a very well-known Peja-based businessman in Kosovo who is the “Telekom Srbije” man for Kosovo and is making a fortune out of this illegal activity.

    (6)
    I cannot help but address another point that Doug raised regarding the PTK and their pricing and service. Now, this may be a bit controversial but ever since a local (Kosovar Albanian) was elected as the head of PTK the corporation has gone a change that is nothing short of a commercial revolution. For many years PTK was headed by foreign directors and they changed nothing, introduced no new products or services, and although the corporation was highly profitable the customer dissatisfaction was increasing by the day. In the last couple of months (less than e year) there have been a serious of price reductions, new products and services were introduced, completely new corporate identity presented for PTK, Vala mobile network, and the Post of Kosovo. So, Doug, I would just like to say that there have been some improvements of late.

    Many thanks,

    Filan Fisteku

16. Greetings Doug,

    Just a note to clarify my position. Needless to say, I did not think that you were suggesting that “Al Pacino” was behind the attempt on Anton Berisha. In fact, you were very clear on your post. Maybe I made a mistake by continuing to refer to the person as “Al Pacino” since it may imply something that we do not wish to imply. I do apologies though if I implies that Doug was suggesting the connection between Al and the attack on Anton.

    Regarding Kujtesa, I think that currently there is little doubt that they are the leading ISP in Kosovo. But “Ipko Net” – that is their corporate identity now, not iPKO – were bought by Telekom Slovenije and, thus, have a lot more capital available. This means that a 75% Telekom Slovenije-owned Ipko Net and Telekom Slovenije have won the licence. While we are discussing Ipko Net, a few months ago they also obtained the licence for landline telecommunications. So, they should be big, very big in Kosovo soon.

    Finally, yes, seven suspects are already in custody and have appeared before a judge in Prishtina Municipal Court. A group of three were arrested by police just over an hour after the second attack on Anton Berisha, and the other four were arrested next morning in Prishtina. All three have confessed that they were involved in the attack but they say that they were only paid to get the job done and don’t know the motives. They were caught red-handed and all the weapons used were seized. The person who paid them to get the job done is also in custody, but he seems to be a “small fish” with no history of involvement in crime and it remains to be seen who, in turn, hired him. If you want, I call provide all the names of suspects. Two suspects don’t seem to have had any significant roles, but since they lived together in the same flat with the attackers they are believe to have potentially vital intel. I must say that the people who did this were complete amateurs, what a disappointment this must be for Todd, since the second attack took place very close to the place where the first attack took place, and with police being on high alert they could not escape. In the second attack, the two attackers who fired from a distance of only 10 meters, one missed the vehicles and the other hit the front of the bullet-proof car causing slight injuries to a policeman while Anton Berisha was unhurt. The vehicle used to transport the weapons, VW Passat, was also sized by the police and I think that the records of phone call to and from the attackers will lead to the “big fish”.

    I guess there will be a few sleepless nights ahead for the person who ordered this horrific act and it serves them right.

    Many thanks,

    Filan Fisteku

17. Dear Filan.

    Thank you for pointing out problems in Serbia, although off subject. It appears that you list many that did not hold office at the time of the crime, unlike the original list I provided. I’m quite sure you can go on and on, since Kosovo is part of Serbia.

    Todd Thompson

18. This is such a pain. I keep writing posts and forget the spam protection and when I press the back button my post is lost.

    Well I aint writing all that again 🙁

19. Dear Todd,

    For your information:

    (1)
    Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic murdered at the time when he was Prime Minister.

    (2)
    Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic murdered at the time when he was Defence Minister.

    (3)
    Deputy Interior Minister Radovan Stojicic murdered at the time when he was Deputy Interior Minister.

    http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/289/t289-1.htm

    (4)
    Zivorad Petrovic murdered at the time when he was director of the Yugoslav state airlines JAT.

    Worth mentioning are the murders of former President Ivan Stambolic and assassination attempts on opposition leaders such as Vuk Draskovic. A list of high profile murders in Serbia was published by BBC News in the following two pages:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/747432.stm

    and

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/727275.stm

    Moving to the murders and assassination attempts on leading journalists, such as Slavko Curuvija, Milan Pantic and Dejan Anastasijevic.

    http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/04/B9C80ECD-7DFE-4934-A544-B93315817CED.html

    When you have a country with such an extensive history of high profile murders and crime it is foolish of you to complain about attacks on law enforcement agencies such as Kosovo Police, KFOR or even UN Police.

    Your arguments are so weak and off the mark that I do not feel intellectually challenged to get into a proper discussion with you.

    A proper discussion and analysis of the situation would involve discussion about the cooperation (or the lack of it) of the Serbian government and other authorities with the ICTY, lack of regret and apology for the undisputed war crimes committed by the Serbian troops, lack of any compensation for the victims, the role of the Serbian Church in politics and the continuing rise of ultra-nationalists, such as the Radical Party of Serbia.

    You are so detached from the reality that it is pointless even reading your non-sense.

    Greetings,

    Filan Fisteku

20. Dear Todd,

    For your information:

    (1)
    Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic murdered at the time when he was Prime Minister.

    (2)
    Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic murdered at the time when he was Defence Minister.

    (3)
    Deputy Interior Minister Radovan Stojicic murdered at the time when he was Deputy Interior Minister.

    http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/289/t289-1.htm

    (4)
    Zivorad Petrovic murdered at the time when he was director of the Yugoslav state airlines JAT.

    Worth mentioning are the murders of former President Ivan Stambolic and assassination attempts on opposition leaders such as Vuk Draskovic. A list of high profile murders in Serbia were published by BBC News in the following two pages:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/747432.stm

    and

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/727275.stm

    Moving to the murders and assassination attempts on leading journalists, such as Slavko Curuvija, Milan Pantic and Dejan Anastasijevic.

    When you have a country with such an extensive history of high profile murders and crime it is foolish of you to complain about attacks on law enforcement agencies such as Kosovo Police, KFOR or even UN Police.

    Your arguments are so weak and off the mark that I do not feel intellectually challenged to get into a proper discussion with you.

    A proper discussion and analysis of the situation would involve discussion about the cooperation (or the lack of it) of the Serbian government and other authorities with the ICTY, lack of regret about the undisputed war crimes committed by the Serbian troops, lack of any compensation, the role of the Serbian Church in politics and the continuing rise of ultra-nationalists, such as the Radical Party of Serbia.

    You are so detached from the reality that it is pointless even reading your non-sense.

    Regards,

    Filan Fisteku

21. Thanks Filan.

    I concede that Serbia has had its problems with crime. This is a whole lot more that you or Doug can do.

    Also, any person that is against me but supports Apartheid in Kosovo and the double standard it presents, like Doug, is certainly welcome to oppose my position. You’re the type of people that think politics are above law. The EU welcomes you too. Especially since it supports and assists in the Apartheid – eight years running.

    Got another lead waste pile to encamp a bunch of minorities after burning them out of their homes? Is the hospital in Pristina treating minorities? It doesn’t matter to the EU or the Europhiles. They can’t be wrong.

    Good Luck.

22. Filan you should note that the kind of argumentation you are using is the wrong way round.

    ‘When you have a country with such an extensive history of high profile murders and crime it is foolish of you to complain about attacks on law enforcement agencies such as Kosovo Police, KFOR or even UN Police.’

    – One crime committed doesnt excuse another. Crime should be condemned full stop. However remember, the type of crime in Kosovo isnt purely criminal – it also has an ethnic nature.
    None of the cases you mentioned in Serbia proper were of an ethnic nature.

23. Dear Todd,

    If you had condemned what you call “apartheid” in Kosovo during the 1990s when Milosevic et al were governing Serbia then I might have taken your concerns slightly more seriously, however, since I doubt that you did then I can not help but find your accusations nothing more than acts of desperation of a person who sides with the side that has lost the argument, has lost the war and, dare I say, has totally lost the moral ground.

    Continue picking and choosing (very) selectively the past and the present and always, absolutely always blame NATO and EU because taking actions against the country that has committed the worst atrocities and war crimes in Europe since WW2 and continues to hide the most wanted war criminals in Europe is a bigger crime than the crimes of the country in question, right?

    Regards,

    Filan Fisteku

    ———-
    Part 2
    ———-

    Dear bganon,

    One of the worst things one can do is accuse a person of saying something that s/he did not say. And you just did that. Let me explain how:

    Todd argued that Kosovar “Government is being targeted at all levels” and went on to list a number of attacks on the former President Rugova, an MP, Kosovo Police Service, KFOR, etc. As a response, I asked him how come the Serbian Government is not being targeted if Serbia has a far worse history of high profile murders and other crimes targeting the Serbian Government. I did this to illustrate the fact that Todd seems to have a very selective memory and that his description of realities on the ground is fundamentally flawed. The point is that if Todd, say, was to argue that the Serbian Government is being targeted at all levels then and only then can anyone start to take him more seriously when he says that the Kosovar Government is being targeted at all levels.

    Then you came along and somehow accused me of excusing or justifying crimes, which is a total and utter non-sense. I never ever excused or justified any crime of any nature and I challenge you to provide any evidence that I did such a thing. Furthermore, you claim that “crime in Kosovo isnt purely criminal – it also has an ethnic nature” – wow, I hope you are not saying that the attack on former President Rugova was of an ethnic nature. If I were to talk about crimes of ethnic nature in Serbia I would have talked about the “New mass grave of Kosovo war victims found in Serbia” (URL: http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=30534), or those that were in freezer trucks dumped in rivers, or hundreds that were unburied from their graves in Kosovo and trucked to Serbia and buried in mass graves at Batajnica police training ground to hide the true scale of war crimes. But, I did not mention these crimes because the topic of the discussion was not ethnically motivated crimes but crimes targeted at governments.

    Thanks,

    Filan Fisteku

24. Dear Filan,

    You’re totally wrong. Perhaps if the EU, US and NATO had consistent policies, enforced and acted in accordance to international laws, and made Kosovo an operating State, I would have a different opinion. You lost the war due the past eight years, leaving 250,000 refugees (all minority) with nothing because they were the minority. You have no high ground. You are now Milosevic.

    I didn’t say anything about supporting Milosevic – until just now. It is you that is hiding under his skirt. You use him to support your ethnically pure Kosovo.

    I am talking the last eight years under Albanian leadership. For the minority, it was worse than anything the Kosovo Albanians under Milosevic or even the Kurds in Turkey have had to endure. So, you can go hide behind Milosevic with the Albanian propagandists and false humanitarians.

    Go ahead, tell me you’ve ethnically cleansed all Jews, most Roma, Egyptian, Turks, Gorani, Bosnians and most Serbs out of the province, because of Milosevic and not because the Narco-Albanian mob that runs the place is intolerant and aiming at only one course – Ethnically Pure Kosovo. Of course, it’s crap that only the EU, US and the Europhiles accept it.

    Regards,

    Todd Thompson

25. Dear Todd,

    I am loving this. The deeper the discussions get, the bigger the flaws in your arguments, the more entertaining it becomes.

    (1)

    Let’s get one thing straight, I am no Milosevic. It is very easy to drop a statement like “You are now Milosevic”, however, you provide no proof or evidence of who (what person) is “Milosevic” now, who are the state-funded paramilitaries that are now committing the worst atrocities and war crimes in Europe since WW2, how many Serbs are being tortured and killed now by the state-funded Kosovar Police, how many Serbs schools are being closed now by the Kosovar government and other trademarks of the Serbian government headed by Milosevic et al.

    The Kosovar government has built and rebuilt homes for many Kosovar Serbs, has fixed roads and other infrastructure for them to return; provides free of charge transport (trains and buses) valued at millions of Euros a year for the Serb minority to move within Kosovo; pays the salaries of Kosovar Serb teachers, health workers, judges and others; the Kosovar parliament has 20 out of 120 seats reserved for the minorities, 10 of which are reserved for Kosovar Serbs; there is a Serb minister in the Kosovar government and another minister’s seat is reserved for other minorities; Kosovar budget contributes the vast majority of money to the budget of municipalities with Serb majority like Strpce in the south of Kosovo.

    Now, I do not recall the Serbian government, pre- and post-Milosevic, building or rebuilding a single house belonging to Kosovar Albanians that were destroyed by the state-funded Serbian troops (army, police, and other paramilitary units), including my house which was looted, burned and than levelled by a tank. I don’t recall the Serbian government providing free of charge transport for a single Kosovar Albanian, let alone for anyone who wishes to travel within Kosovo. Instead of paying the salaries of Kosovar Albanian teachers, health workers and judges they were kicked out of their jobs because they did not subscribe to the racist and ultra-nationalist Serb policies. Can you name a single Kosovar Albanian minister in the Serbian government, pre- or post-Milosevic, or is/was there a single seat reserved for Kosovar Albanians in the Serbian parliament?

    And I have not even mentioned the atrocities and war crimes committed by the state-funded Serbian troops, thousands of bodies transported by state-funded trucks and dumped into rivers, lakes and mass graves in police training grounds Belgrade, the supposed guardians of law.

    Only the mind of an idiot is capable of contemplating equating the actions of Serbian government of Milosevic et al and those of the Kosovar government. While it is undeniable that Kosovar Serbs have suffered crimes, which are well documented, at the hands of Kosovar Albanian extremists after the end of the Kosovo war, equating atrocities and war crimes of state-funded and state-coordinated Serbian troops in state-uniforms and the actions of few criminals or criminal groups in a post-war and traumatic situation is absolutely idiotic.

    Too bad Milosevic et al did no allow international judges to work for the Kosovo judicial system to ensure that Kosovar Albanians are judged fairly, similarly to how today these judges ensure that Kosovar Serbs and other minorities in Kosovar courts receive fair and balanced trials.

    (2)

    I am not hiding under anybodies skirt, but you must be a complete and utter idiot to think that history started 8 years ago. If we were to apply your twisted logic today in the history books we would read and learn about how the Nazis have suffered following the end of the Second World War. And I am using the Nazis exactly because you dared to use the “Jewish card” when talking about the post-war situation in Kosovo.

    You fool, how many Jews lived in Kosovo before 1999? Answer this question if you can.

    How many synagogues were there in Kosovo before 1999?

    And you dared to mention the “ethnic cleaning” of Jews – you even placed Jews before Serbs, Romas, Goranis – fabricating stories just so that you can present your distorted views of the Kosovo issue. If your twisted views were true, how come then that the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel welcomed Hashim Thaqi, most probably your most hated Kosovo politician, this year in Tel Aviv? Why would a Jewish leader welcome someone who has “ethnically cleansed” Jews from Kosovo?
    http://www.balkanupdate.com/2007/02/kosovo-opposition-leader-to-visit.html

    The answer is simple, because you are a liar.
    There is no point in trying to be more polite here when what you are doing is lying, and a person who lies can only be called a liar.

    (3)

    Now, I can accuse you, just like you accused me of hiding under Milosevic’s skirt, of hiding under your racist anti-Albanian views of “Narco-Albanian mob” (as if there is no Nargo-groups in every country in the world – i.e. only Albanian phenomenon) and do not have the courage to state one thing:

    Are you ready to condemn the “apartheid” in Kosovo imposed by the Serbian government led by Milosevic et al?

    If you want EU, US and NATO to be consistent, why don’t you look in the mirror start from yourself?

    If in the next post, whenever that may be, you write that you disapprove of racist Serbian ultra-nationalism as much as you disapprove of “Albanian propagandists and false humanitarians”; if you state that state-funded and state-coordinated forces have committed the worst atrocities and war crimes in Europe since the Second World War, if you state that Kosovar Serbs in Serb-dominated areas (mainly in the north) treat Kosovar Albanians no better than Kosovar Albanians treat Kosovar Serbs in Albanian-dominated areas (mainly in the rest of Kosovo); if you state that state-funded Serbian forces made at least three times more Albanians refugees than there are all together non-Albanian refugees today; if you state that there was not a single synagogue in Kosovo before 1999; if you state that Serbs and Serb-lovers have absolutely no high ground with regards to Kosovo; only then will I take your concerns regarding Serbs more seriously.

    Till then you remain a biased person with twisted views of the situation in Kosovo who does not stop at the (very) selective memory of what happened in Kosovo, but also endeavours to make the history of Kosovo begin in 1999 to better suit his views, and even fabricates stories by playing the “Jewish victim card” to entail a loaded image of Kosovar Albanians.

    Kind regards,

    Filan Fisteku

26. Filan I didnt realise that a condemnation of crime whether ethnic based or otherwise would receive such a sensitive response from you.

    I wasnt trying to accuse you of anything so its strange that you should reply in such a way. Perhaps its because you are arguing this issue with Todd that you over-reacted.

    My only point is that we should argue for higher standards – not look around us for a similarly low or lower standard. This is the greatest problem I have with revisionist types (no I am not accusing you of revisionism, I feel I must write this because you might misunderstand) who always point to the error of others as soon as their own ‘house’ is criticised.

    There is one point that I feel obliged to make though. The crimes such as freezer trucks and so on did indeed have an ethnic basis. I condemned it then and condemn it today. However, ethnic related crime continues in Kosovo today. That must also be condemned.

27. Dear bganon,

    Just a quick note to say that I condemn in the strongest possible terms all criminal acts, more so if they are ethnically motivated, whether they are committed by Albanian criminals or Serb criminals. I condemn them with all my heart and soul. I cannot stand any criminal who destroys the future of ordinary people. I have always said and always will say “Not in my name”.

    Having said this, I would like to say that I am sorry that you felt that I over-reacted, however since I was in a sensitive discussion with Todd your response led me to believe that you were accusing me of justifying crimes, something that I feel very passionate about because I am the last person in the world who will justify any crime whatsoever.

    I would also like to let you know that I will celebrate every time in a free and fair court an individual or a group is found guilty of (war) crimes, be they Macedonian, Croatian, Albanian, Serb or Bosnian. I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone who has committed a crime, whether he was perceived as an aggressor or defending her/his home. In my eyes, a crime is a crime — there is no other name for it. And, I have no problem whatsoever discussing crimes committed in Kosovo by Serbian forces or Albanian forces. However, when a person raises questions or makes statements with the sole purpose of putting the blame on one side only (or simply to express her/his xenophobic views) I feel I must respond and, believe you me, I hold no punches. This is why I reacted the way that I did, and, unfortunately, you got on the way.

    If one makes a groundless statement along the lines of “apartheid in Kosovo”, “double standards” or “you are now Milosevic” then they should be able to take on the criticism that follows.

    Finally, yes, I totally condemn ethnically motivated crime that has happened in Kosovo after the war (post-1999) just as I totally condemned ethnically motivated crime that has happened in Kosovo before and during the war (pre-1999). I expect the same from all other people of good will.

    Kind regards,

    Filan Fisteku

28. Dear Filan,

    I almost didn’t send this given the above discussion…but given your ridiculous comments about fostering and rebuilding for refugee returns…..

    Your arguments would be funny if they didn’t involve such a serious subject. Your writing smacks of Doug Muir. Are you one in the same?

    Your twisted view of what’s acceptable and what’s not clearly shows the double standard presented in Albanian Kosovo and condoned by the UN, EU and US. Man, so many embellishments and so little time. Where to start? Oh yeah. The UNSC is coming to see the true situation for themselves. This visit will clearly show the lies perpetrated by the Kosovo Albanians, UN and NATO.

    You say no Jewish in Kosovo because there are no synagogues? That explains why Kosovo Albanians are bombing and burning every Christian Church and Monastery they can. That way, using your twisted logic, they can make the same claim about Christianity and Christians in Kosovo later. Here’s the testimony of one Jewish Kosovar:

    “The powers from Albania came inside the country. Their main purpose was to get all the non-Albanian population out. With help from Eliz Viza from Israel and from the Chairman of the Jewish Community from Skopia I was rescued, taken by Taxi together with my wife and my mother to Macedonia and from Macedonia I came to Belgrade. The whole rescue operation of my family was given to Israeli TV. Altogether there were 40 people of Jewish origin in Kosovo. They are of mixed marriage, Jewish-Albanian, Jewish-Turkish and Jewish-Serbian. All are prepared to go to Israel. To go back to Kosovo for us is too late. Even though we got a guarantee from Thaci which is the head of the UCK [KLA], that our homes would not be touched we have information that all our apartments and our houses were completely robbed and demolished.”

    Funny you should remember the Nazis but forget that they were your real good genocidal friends back in WWII. Come to think of it, isn’t a Hilter living in South Mitrovica and didn’t the Albanians ship off 281 Jews to die in Belsen (200 did)? No wonder there were so few Jews in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians have previously liquidated them. Sick that you would use that twist, given your history on this matter.

    Kosovo Albanians have a history of persecution of non-Albanians and the trend continues to this day. Under the new Albanian leadership and UN rulers, there continue to be arrests and torture of Serbs and other minorities. Funny that your memory can’t even go back a week or two when a Serb forester and his two sons were detained, arrested, and tortured for no apparent reason, “investigation” ongoing. But that is just one on many that include the rape of nuns, the beheading of a priest, abductions and murders of the minority, so many in fact that the disappearance and killing is over 1,000 minorities.

    In addition, Kosovo Albanians have purged 250,000 minorities from Kosovo. How about you tell me how many Serb schools have closed since the Albanians have taken over? How about the main hospital in Pristina? How many minorities work there? How many minority patients are seen there? Just like Aparteid, I think it’s zero or near zero.

    The seats reserved in government, guarantees on movement? That is simply lip service by you, the UN, EU and NATO. They may have seats but can’t get there without NATO escort, and still risk death by trying to attend sessions. Buses and trains purchased by the World are stoned and blown up by the new Albanian rulers and their children.

    Rebuilding for minority returns? That is utter nonsense and clearly shows that you and the Albanian leadership you represent are clearly unavailable for any rational thought. In eight years, you’ve allowed less than one percent to return (or close to that). The Albanian leadership, supported by the UN, EU and NATO, is just letting time go by so that a whole generation is displaced and likely never to return. This is a true double standard regarding refugees.

    It seems that you want me to believe that the Albanians have rebuilt Pristina for the 40 Serb residents (prisoners in their own homes) that remain guarded by NATO out of a prewar number of 40,000. Nonsense.

    Albanian Kosovo is paying for nothing. The EU, UN and NATO are subsidizing the economy, paying the bills and fostering a mono-ethnic society of Kosovo Albanians. It’s unbelievable that they continue their path.

    You can cling to the memory of Milosevic. As the spawn of Milosevic, the Albanian leadership and you can try to hide your ugly truth behind him, but ultimately, you will have the take responsibility for the last eight years plus of torture, murder, and ethnic cleansing. The UN, EU, US and NATO hold that responsibility too. But, it will be totally attributed to your culture. Kosovo Albanians should know this better than anyone, since they currently hold dearly a belief in collective guilt and the use scapegoats, children and the elderly, to justify their means. As a defender of them, you share the responsibility too.

    Kindest Regards.

29. “Your writing smacks of Doug Muir. Are you one in the same?”

    No. And there’s another yellow card, Todd — accusing people of sockpuppetry is bad form.

    One more and you’re suspended. Play nice, please.

    Doug M.

30. Filan, while Todd is somewhat foaming at the mouth, he does touch on some important points.

    One, the treatment of minorities in Kosovo is indeed troublesome. Kosovar Serbs still suffer from discrimination and sometimes physical attacks. Serbs do not feel safe entering Prishtina. Roma were ethnically cleansed in 1999, and are currently living in squalid refugee camps; there’s a lot of resistance to letting them come back. In fact, very few people who left in ’99 have come back.

    Two, the reservation of 20 seats for minorities is nice, but even if they wanted to participate they’d have to be bussed back and forth under armed guard. Also, the Serbs made the legitimate point that the Parliament building is full of art celebrating Albanian heritage, but has nothing depicting Serbia’s history in Kosovo.

    Three, the pogrom of March 2004 was not an attack by “extremists”; it was well organized, and hundreds of people took part. The Serb civilians are still very nervous about that, and they have a point.

    Four, Kosovo’s economy is indeed being heavily subsidized. The electrical system alone has soaked up half a billion euros without improving much. If the international community stopped paying tomorrow, the economy would collapse. This really deserves a thread of its own — it’s completely irrelevant to this post — but it is something to keep in mind when talking about independence.

    Finally, the Jewish thing: that’s based on a 1999 interview with a Serbian Jew who was living in Prishtina and was driven out. There is some truth to it. There weren’t many Jews in Kosovo, but the ones who were there tended to identify as Serbs — almost all either had Serbian names, were married to ethnic Serbs, or both. So, they got driven out along with the Serbs.

    There was a lot of indignation in Israel at the time. (Note that in the 1990s, Israel was pretty friendly with Milosevic’s regime. Tel Avic sold Slobo a lot of security equipment.) However, it has mostly died down, and Israel now seems to be pretty neutral on the Kosovo question.

    cheers,

    Doug M.

31. Dear Todd,

    You are a xenophobe. The deeper the discussion, the more visible your xenophobic views become. Your statements are so full of contradictions in terms that it I wonder if in fact I am discussing with an 8-year-old who was born on June 12, 1999.

    You are a very weak, if not wicked, person Todd. So, you really do not have the courage to condemn the “apartheid” in Kosovo imposed by the democratically elected Serbian government during the 1990s.

    You complain of “double standards”, but look in the mirror and start from yourself. What kind of a wicked person is not capable of condemning a massacre of only women and children in Podujevo (URL: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/balkans/crimesandcourage.html), just to mention one, but calls a policing operation by UNMIK police and KFOR a “torture.” If your statement were true, which of course it isn’t, why didn’t any international or neutral human right organisation protest? Or are you so blind and one-sided that whatever comes from the mouth of the Serbian propaganda you automatically believe it? For your information, the person who was detained had a number of illegal weapons in his house and that was the reason why he and his two sons were subject to a policing operation – Serbian propaganda never reveals the true story, does it? If you want to further discuss the case you must answer my questions, it’s no good lying and fabricating stories to backup your distorted views.

    Now, just take a second to think. For once, use your brain. You say that the UNSC will show the “lies” perpetrated by the UN. UNSC stands for United Nations Security Council, i.e. it belongs or is part of the United Nations (UN). So, UN will show the “lies” perpetrated by the UN. Wow! I look forward to the day when Todd Thompson will show the lies perpetrated by Todd Thompson!

    Again, don’t fabricate statements just so that you can backup your extremely weak arguments. I did not ask you how many synagogues were in Kosovo before 1999 to imply that there were no Jews in Kosovo, you made this up yourself, but rather to open your eyes for you to see how big that community was/is and to illustrate that you use extremely cheap cards – remember, you listed Jews before Serbs, Roma, Turks, Goranis etc. Since Jewish ethnicity and religion of Judaism are strongly interrelated, the fact that there were/are no synagogues in Kosovo demonstrates the real size of the community and that you were using the “Jewish card” to imply a pre-loaded image of Albanians as some sort of Nazi-like people.

    However, your very own double standards were best illustrated by the one Jewish person, who unfortunately was forced to leave his home in Prishtina. He says the following two lines which I feel you do not appreciate:

    “They [KFOR] didn’t ask which nationality you are”, i.e. he was not targeted because he was Jewish.

    “Israel: Did you ever experience anti-Semitism from the Serbs?

    Prelincevic: Never. Neither from the Albanians.” Oops, aren’t the Albanians supposed to be anti-Semitic Todd? Or it is another one of your lies?

    The bottom line is that a man who is married to a Serbian woman was targeted in a post-war situation; there is absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing to indicate that he was targeted because he was Jewish, and is being interviewed by a person who has a lot, a lot of leading questions. That establishes nothing other than there was a level of anarchy in the post-war Kosovo, like in every other post-war country, and it shows that you are ready to sink to the lowest possible levels just to get some wobbly basis for your fundamentally flawed argument.

    You sank to your lowest levels so far by going back to WW2 to try and somehow, again, link Albanians and the Nazis. Well, I have a response for you; there is no denying the fact that 100 percent of the Jewish population in Albania survived the Second World War and that Albania had more Jews within its borders at the end of the war than at the beginning. Now, put that in your pipe and smoke it! The capital of Serbia, your best friends who can do no evil – well, other than the worst atrocities and war crimes in Europe since WW2 – was the first city in Europe that was declared free of Jews. Are you going to blame the Albanians for that too? Are you going to blame the Albanians for Holocaust, Rwanda, Khmer Rouge – because from what I have read so far, I would not be surprised?

    Read this: http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/10989/edition_id/210/format/html/displaystory.html

    I will finish my comments by, again, reminding you of the facts and truths that you are simply not capable of handling since they spoil your xenophobic views:

    1. Serbian forces have made at least 2-4 times more Albanian refugees than any other figure of non-Albanian refugees.

    2. Over 16% of seats of the Kosovar parliament are reserved for minorities. Half of these seats are taken by non-Serb minorities – no problem there – and, in addition, the health minister is Bosniak. Furthermore, one member of the Kosovar government is Serbian. This means that the Kosovar institutions are guaranteed by constitution to be multi-ethnic, something that really does not sit well with your ideas about mono-ethnic Kosovo.

    3. Kosovo government is poor; nevertheless, every year it spent in excess of 2 million Euros to provide free transport within Kosovo for the minorities, mainly Serbs. The free of charge transport is very popular with the Serbs, but some outsiders like you Todd don’t like to be reminded of these facts.

    4. Every single house that was damaged or destroyed during the March 2004 riots has been rebuilt with the money from the Kosovar taxpayers. A poor government yes, but still paid over 10 million Euros to rebuilt homes as well as other infrastructure that was never there, such as sewage, running war and some bridges just so that the refugees return. The number of houses rebuilt by the Serbian government in Kosovo: zero!

    5. Treatment of Kosovar Albanians north of river Iber is by far worst than the treatment of Serbs south of river Iber. I was born in the northern part of Mitrovica, if I was to walk north of the bridge I would be attacked straightaway.

    I apologise that I have revealed your xenophobic views.

    Kind regards,

    Filan Fisteku

32. Dear Doug,

    I am somewhat disappointed at you, not because you raise some questions that are quite legitimate, but rather because of the manner in which you raised them.

    I will, however, deal with every single one of them.

    1. Minorities

    There is no denying the fact that minorities in the post-war Kosovo have suffered. As I said in my previous post, their sufferings have been well documented. I condemn every sort of crime, particularly ethnically motivated crimes.

    But.

    I was born in Mitrovica, in the hospital which is in the northern part of the town. If Serbs don’t feel save to enter Prishtina, I feel very unsafe to enter the northern part of Mitrovica where I was born. I though of you as an intelligent man who understands that in areas where Serb are a majority Albanians are treated in the same way, if not worse then, the way Serbs are treated in the other areas. There are hundreds of Serbs working for UNMIK, OSCE and other NGOs as well as Kosovar government who work in Prishtina and travel there on a daily basis. There are almost no Albanians that can cross the bridge in the north and walk in the parts of town that are Serb-dominated.

    Thankfully, not a single fatal ethnically motivated crime has occurred in Kosovo in years, and there has been a drastic fall of all other ethnically motivated crimes or accidents. There has been some undeniable progress. Just today, the head of UNMIK frustrated by the lack of cooperation from the Kosovar Serbs stated that it is not right that Kosovar Serbs have isolated themselves and blame others for that. Now, this is a strong statement, but he must know something that I and you don’t know.

    Kosovar Serbs have a serious question in front of them. They know that they will no longer be the oh-so-privileged minority in Kosovo and they must decide if they want to live in a country where they will be equal as everyone else. Believe you men, I was born and brought up in Kosovo and I have many contacts (maybe even friends) with Kosovar Serbs and a number of them have left out of their own will because they can no longer live “as they used to” (read: as a privileged group) while other are doing everything possible to block and delay any progress, some would even like to incite violence against the minorities so that they can “show to the world” that Albanians cannot govern.

    Minorities have been targeted and have suffered, but never from the Kosovar government or police and, as the head of UNMIK said, blaming only one side is “not right”.

    2. The positive discrimination

    Positive discrimination in the Kosovar parliament is good, very good. There are no “buts”.
    There is a very large Albanian population in Macedonia and there is no positive discrimination there. There is no positive discrimination in Serbia or Montenegro, both with small Albanian minorities.

    There is really no room for “buts” here.

    After the armed conflict in Macedonia, the majority of the Albanian MPs also had to go to the Macedonian parliament under armed guards because they fought against the Macedonians. Nobody complained about that. The Prime Minister of Kosovo as well as the Speaker of Parliament is also under armed guards. So what if the Serbian MPs are under police protection? Oliver Ivanovic seems to be very relaxed in Prishtina and the two Serbs ministers in the Kosovar government have been seen many times without guards.

    As I said above, hundreds of Serbs travel daily from Cagllavica and other places to Prishtina to work, some have moved back to Prishtina to live, hence, the picture that you portray of Prishtina where every Serb has to have armed guards is simply not correct.

    Please, read the following: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0221/p07s02-woeu.html

    Now, forgive me for being forthright, but you seem to have fallen victim of the Serb propaganda yourself. The Parliament building is not “full” of art celebrating Albanian heritage. There are three painting, yes, three painting in the lobby and they all have been covered up, so, in fact, there is no art in the Parliament building any longer. The Speaker of Parliament has said that there were plans to display art celebrating Serb and other non-Albanian heritage when the rest of the building is renovated, so until then everything has been covered up. It is also worth noting that none of the “all three” paintings contained any anti-Serbian connotation whatsoever and that Kosovar Serbs and others will have to learn to live with the fact that Albanians represent the vast majority of the population and this will have to be reflected in the Parliament and other institutions of the country.

    Finally, all non-Serb minorities have taken their seats (reserved and elected) in the Kosovar Parliament and Government, and they have cooperated very well with the institutions, which leads the Kosovar Serbs somewhat isolated and removes the ground that they claim when they speak of Serb and non-Serb minorities.

    3. March 2004 riots

    You continue with the use of terms like “pogrom” which normally indicate bias. This is disappointing. While the riots of March 2004 represent the darkest period of the post-war Kosovo, they were by and large spontaneous and definitely not organised by any part of the government or Kosovar police. If, as you say, hundreds of people took part in the riots then these hundreds of people are “extremists”. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that the riots were state-sponsored or state-organised, and if they were not organised by the state (government) than the rioters were extremist elements of the society.

    The Kosovar government has expressed deep regret over what happened and have paid with the taxpayers’ money for the reconstruction of all homes that were damaged. The government has spent over ten million Euros from a very poor budget to rebuild not only the houses but to also improve the water systems, sewage, roads and bridges. It is also worth pointing out that 19 people died in these riots, 11 of whom were Albanians. These eleven do not include the three children that were murdered north of river Iber.

    So, the Kosovar government has at least done something to amend the inter-ethnic relations after the riots. Some Serb civilians are nervous, but then so are a lot of Albanians who are yet to receive an apology from the Serbian government for what happened during the war, yet to receive a single Euro cent to rebuilt a house or a school that was destroyed be Serbian forces, but instead hear threats that Kosovo will be incorporate under Serbia in the future. In Kosovo a lot of people are nervous and a lot of them have a point, but for the situation to improve both sides have to contribute towards amending inter-ethnic relations. I will use the words of the head of UNMIK once again to say that “it is not right” for the Kosovar Serbs to complain about their current situation if on the other side they don’t do anything to improve the lives of those few Albanians that remain in the north of river Iber. The fact is that the north of Mitrovica has an Albanian majority and none of these people are allowed to return, not allowed to even visit their homes then can the Kosovar Serbs really ask for a better treatment in the rest of Kosovo?

    4. Kosovo’s economy

    This just goes out to show the significance of the fact that despite having a small budget and a poor economy the Kosovar government is spending millions of Euros is constructing Serbian homes, subsidising their transport within Kosovo and generally trying to improve the conditions for their return. Is says a lot, whether you agree or not.

    However, as far as the subsidising of the Kosovar economy is concerned, we are not the only country in the region to enjoy foreign subsidies. So, there is nothing new here either. The current trend of events is that the foreign subsidies are falling down whereas the economy grew 5 percent last year thanks to the private sector.

    The current economic situation is not good, however there is hope that in the next 5 to 10 years new massive power plants will be built and that Kosovo will be an exporter of energy again. With the ever-increasing price of energy the chances are that these massive projects will provide an impetus to other industries and the general economic outlook will change. A lot needs to be done, we are far from getting “there”, but the possibilities exist and they need to be seized. I think that Serbia will make a big mistake if it decides to play ugly games in the north of Kosovo since with the current climate trends and their heavy reliance on water-generated electricity they stand to loose a lot from the energy deals that will be done in Kosovo. Russia has a lot of gas, but a close neighbour is somewhat more reliable than political games that involve the entire Eastern Europe.

    5. The Jewish card

    The fact of the matter is that the tiny Jewish community in Kosovo were not targeted because they were Jewish, but rather because the individuals were seen as being close to the Serbian regime. The interview that was conducted back in 1999 was immediately after that man was forced to flee so a lot of emotions were involved, and on top of that the journalist was asking a lot of leading questions.

    You say that there is “some truth to it,” but that truth does not go beyond the fact that a few people, who happened to be Jewish, were forced out of their homes. Saying that Jews were targeted as a community is something very different, and amounts to being very, very economic with the truth.

    Even, say, in Bosnia where many people fled, there were Jews who were forced to leave, but that does not necessarily mean that the Croats, Serbs or Bosniaks targeted them as Jews. Todd, on the other hand, listed the Jews are the first community to have been “cleansed”, even ahead of Roma, Serbs or Bosniaks – and such a tiny community in question with not even a single synagogue — I was left with no other opinion other then Todd weaving the “Jewish card” and, thus, trying to gain the sympathies of people with memories of the worst crime in the history of the mankind, the Holocaust.

    In Israel at the time hundreds of Kosovar Albanians were welcomed as refugees by the Israeli government, so I am not so sure where you got of the “a-lot-of-indignation” impression. The exception, not the norm, was Arial Sharon, who at the time was in opposition, which is not a surprise bearing in mind his hate and xenophobia of Muslims. On the other hand, the Jewish American community, or rather their representatives, have for a long time been sympathetic to the Kosovar Albanian cause and they have spoken in numerous occasions against the Serbian regime. This is best demonstrated with a lot of the charity work of the Jewish American organisations in Kosovo after the war. The Albanian caucuses in Washington has long been very close to the Jewish American groups, so much so that they organised a trip for Hashim Thaci to Israel where he met Simon Peres, the Deputy Prime Minister of the State of Israel, as well as a number of other more junior diplomats. It is true though, to a small extend, that the Serbian government has an ear in Israel, mainly in the far right and with people that frankly have some scary ideas about the world we live in.

    6. Final note

    As a final note, I would have liked you to have dropped even a single sentence about me touching a few important points, too. I was disappointed with a few terms that you used, the manner in which the questions were raised, as well as the fact that it felt that you shared some concerns with Todd, but not with the so-called “other side.” I am no concerned at all if you agree with my personal points of view or not, but as an editor I would expect you to be a bit more even-handed and maybe, just maybe, raise some questions and/or criticism for the other “other side” too.

    I apologise for the (very) long replies.

    Yours sincerely,

    Filan Fisteku

33. Filan,

    You can call me anything you want. It is actually a compliment coming from someone that defends double standards and human rights abuses because of historical abuses. Based on your pathetic defense of the Apartheid in Kosovo, the the Armenians should be taking revennge attacks on the Turks, the French should still be killing Germans from the losses in WWI, and the Filipinos should be killing Japanese. According to you, I should be and apologist for all these too before criticizing any ongoing abuses. It’s ridiculous. We now look back at how the Germans were treated after WWI and WWII with regret – staining those that were involved with it at the time. Kosovo will share that fate with those.

    You, on the other hand, support and defend ongoing violations, defend, through silence, keeping refugees homeless, and defend keeping minorities without health care and jobs. You know that. You know that the Kosovo Albanians are the new Milosevic government in Kosovo. It’s just that the light of the truth burns you. Too bad.

    For one that seems to think he has the facts, you sure seem to have very few of them. So you rebuilt some houses using “tax euros” huh? Did all the refugees (except the dead ones, of course) that you chased away come back and live in them or did Albanians move into a portion or all of them? Tell me that. Let me guess, you don’t have the facts to prove either the rebuilding or the repatriation of the refugees.

    Mitrovica: Perhaps the Albanians would be more welcome if they allowed more refugees to return without the threat of death and stopped throwing hand grenades into minority-populated areas. Perhaps we wouldn’t be engaged in this discussion if there wasn’t over 250,000 refugees, eight years and running, as a result of your new Kosovo. But we are, because there are these facts and you seem to be just fine with it. You’ve revealed nothing to reverse my finding that Kosovo has a double standard when it comes to the minority and the Kosovo Albanian and the UN, EU, US and NATO support it.

    Good Luck on your UNSC compliance inspection. You sure will need it. Of course, I hope that the inspection is objective and fair, leaving you and yours in the ruinous light of justice that it justly deserves.

    That’s my closing. Go ahead and end it with yours.

    Good Luck.

34. Dear Todd,

    I am loving this more and more. You never cease to amaze me with your pathetic and fundamentally flawed arguments.
    You say the following:

    “We now look back at how the Germans were treated after WWI and WWII with regret – staining those that were involved with it at the time.”

    Are you implying that because of “double standards” the Nazi Germany should not have been attacked and defeated by the Allies? This is your logic, “double standards”, blame everything on UN and NATO (in WW2, the Allies) and never ever mention or condemn a single atrocity or war crime committed by the Serbian forces (in WW2, Nazi Germany). I am not suggesting that Serbia and Nazi Germany are equivalent, however, there are enough similarities to apply your wicked logic.

    In addition, you don’t have the moral fibre to name “those” that were involved “with it at the time”, as you put it. You are one spineless person Todd because you do not dare to name anyone in particular when it comes to the treatment of Germans after WW1 and WW2, but you dare to blame a whole nation for the way Serbs were treated in Kosovo after the Kosovo war.

    You really are a coward Todd. You don’t have the courage to even mention a single atrocity or war crime by your so-beloved Serbian forces, let alone condemn them. This shows your cowardice, and you dare to complain of “double standards.” I, by contrast, have condemned in numerous occasions every single crime that was committed in Kosovo, however, your problem with me is that I condemn the atrocities and war crimes by Serbian forces that took place in Kosovo before and during the war just as much as I condemn the crimes committed after the war. The problem you have with me is precisely because I am not silent and you wish that I were and just rolled over.

    Your xenophobic views were repeated once more when you equate a whole nation, i.e. Kosovar Albanians, with a government, i.e. Milosevic government, which has committed the worst atrocities and war crimes in Europe since the end of the WW2. This just goes to show what a coward you are by not having the courage to repeat your completely and utterly false statement, but using the term Serbs instead of the “Milosevic” – you seem more than happy to blame the entire Kosovar Albanian population on the other hand.

    You see, it is cowards like you that hide under Milosevic’s skirt, not the people who accuse. You seem more than happy to put the blame for all the atrocities and war crimes on Milosevic, and since he is now dead there is no one left to blame. However, the truth is that Milosevic had nothing to do with the massacre of children and women in Podujevo nor could he organise himself to unearth the innocent victims of Serbian war crimes from Kosovo, transport them by trucks to Serbia and dump them into rivers, lakes and mass graves in training grounds of the Serbian police. It takes more than a person or a government to commit such large war crimes at such a large scale. It is you and your deafening silence that defend these horrific war crimes, revealing your xenophobic views.

    Your xenophobic world collapses when you read about the facts that the Kosovar taxpayers’ money has rebuilt every single house that was damaged or destroyed during the 2004 riots. Some Serbs have returned and live in these new houses, others at leave have houses where to return. Most have even received 2,000 Euros of cash to help them keep going. Now, if you were not living in a world of total double standards you probably would have asked the following: why didn’t the Serbian government with the Serbian taxpayers money rebuilt the homes of the families massacred in Podujevo, or the homes of those families, members of whom were trucked to Serbia and dumped in rivers, lakes and mass graves in training grounds of the Serbian police?

    You have no answers Todd. You can only ask xenophobic questions.

    So blind you are that the stupidity of your arguments is beginning to amuse me. You ask if “perhaps” Albanians treated Serbs better then maybe Serbs would welcome Albanians in the north of Kosovo, but I could ask you absolutely the same question. You have no answers, again. Kosovar Albanians have rebuilt many Serbian homes, provide them with free of charge transport, reserve seats for them in the Parliament and Government – surely this is a step towards inter-ethnic reconciliation. Why don’t the Serbs in the north of Kosovo replicate these steps? It takes two to tango, and while one side is taking actions, doing something, the other side has not moved at all. Where are acts of good will from the Serbian side? Is there any good will on the Serbian side?

    I am looking forward to the protests of human rights organisations such as “Amnesty International” or the “Human Rights Watch” against the “torture” of the Kosovar Serb forester. Or will this turn out to be yet another lie in the string of lies coming from your side.

    Having said all of this, I would like to end the discussion on a good note. I share your hope for the UNSC delegation to be objective and fair.

    Kind regards,

    Filan Fisteku

35. Anton Berisha and Al Pacino collaborated. No Doubt. Al Pacino was a major shareholder of both the first bidder and the second one. Al Pacino, the Bananaman, politicians, and other people use politics to enrich themselves. It is common not only in Kosovo but all over the world, including the United Freedom Loving States of America (in the form of subsidies).

    All these people come from a small city called Peja/Pec, even Karic Bank (Karic brothers) come from the stated city.

36. [comment deleted]

    Jonas, just so you know: we don’t really approve of posting 1000-word articles in comments threads here. Excerpt, or use a hyperlink.

    Also, the article in question was from April 2005 — four and a half years ago. That’s just annoying.

    (The fact that all charges were later dropped against the guy is just icing on the cake.)

    You’re welcome to comment here. But keep the quotes brief and reasonable, and try to stay at least remotely connected to the topic at hand.

    Doug M.

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