Top ethnic Albanian rebel commander
surrenders to peacekeepers in Kosovo
By Scott Schonauer,
Kosovo bureau
Terry Boyd / Stars and Stripes
Sgt. 1st Class Fred C. Poole, with the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment of the
3rd Infantry Division, directs some suspected Muslim guerrillas. About 24 men, believed to
be connected to Muslim guerrilla groups in the Presevo Valley, were held after they
entered eastern Kosovo from Yugoslavia with the weapons. American KFOR officers said most
would be released. |
MALI TRNOVAC, Kosovo — Proclaiming "it’s time to stop the war," a
top commander of ethnic Albanian militants in southern Serbia turned himself in to U.S.
peacekeepers early Saturday morning.
Shefket Musliu and two associates surrendered shortly after midnight at a Russian and
U.S. military checkpoint and handed over another large cache of weapons.
KFOR peacekeepers said they were released after agreeing not to fight again.
Musliu gave up after attending the funeral of another rebel commander, Ridvan Qazimi
Leshi, who was shot and killed by Yugoslav troops. He told peacekeepers that he wanted to
send a message to other rebel leaders "to put down the weapons."
The slaying of Leshi, a prominent and popular leader, has infuriated rebels and sparked
concerns in southern Serbia of a violent backlash.
"I think Shefket also is a leader by example," said Army Col. Gene Kamena,
deputy commander of the U.S. peacekeeping sector in Kosovo. "It was probably a hard
decision for him."
In return for his release, Musliu handed over numerous machine guns, ammunition, mortar
and uniforms Saturday afternoon to peacekeepers. Rebels delivered the cache in six
trailers pulled by tractors.
It was the largest amount of weapons voluntarily turned in by militants since Musliu
signed an agreement to disband rebel forces by the end of the month.
On Friday, militants turned in five trailer loads of weapons near the Kosovo village of
Dobrosin.
Rebels continued to cross the border into Kosovo and lay down their arms even though
the amnesty extended by KFOR had ended.
Twenty-four militants turned themselves in to peacekeepers and were taken to Camp
Bondsteel, the main U.S. Army base in Kosovo. Kamena said the men would likely be released
as long as they are not suspected of committing serious crimes.
Terry Boyd / Stars and Stripes
Detained Albanians who turned in a large cache of weapons Saturday listen to an
unidentified American officer. |
More than 450 members of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac
surrendered prior to the return of Yugoslav forces into the buffer zone. Although
peacekeepers’ commanders said amnesty for the rebels would end last Thursday, Kamena
said soldiers would release militants on a "case-by-case basis." But he said
peacekeepers are not reverting to the previous policy.
"We have to go through a lot more wickets to get them released," he said.
The tons of weapons handed over to peacekeepers and the hundreds of surrendering rebels
may be the most telling sign that the ethnic Albanian insurgency is finished.
Armed rebels had controlled a 3-mile-wide buffer zone between Kosovo and southern
Serbia until North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials invited Yugoslav forces back in
on Thursday.
Rebels have used the zone as a safe haven for the past 16 months. NATO created the
buffer in 1999 after the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia to put space between
peacekeepers and the Yugoslav army.
Outmatched by thousands of Yugoslav troops and without the support of NATO, Musliu
agreed to disarm and end the militants’ fight for greater control of southern Serbia.
The agreement was a significant step toward avoiding further bloodshed in the region.
More than 4,000 Yugoslav troops entered the zone Thursday and met little resistance, but
the shooting of Leshi appeared to complicate the operation.
Concern spread through Serbia that the rebels would retaliate and Yugoslav forces
responded by surrounding the town. But peacekeepers hoped Musliu’s surrender might
ease tensions in the region.
While tensions appeared to fade in southern Serbia, Macedonia’s army launched its
largest offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels there. Critics of KFOR’s
"screen and release" policy with the militants have suggested that some might
move south to help insurgents in Macedonia.
Peacekeepers have insisted that they could not prevent former rebels from Kosovo and
Serbia from crossing the border to fight in Macedonia.
"Can I absolutely tell you they’re not going to go back?" Kamena said.
"I can’t tell you that."
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