FROM THE MEDIA

Four KLA men face trial for war crimes

By Peter Popham in Rome

23 November 2002

Four former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army have been charged by an international prosecutor in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, with war crimes against fellow ethnic Albanians, the first time KLA members have been indicted for such crimes.

The accused include a prominent KLA commander, Rustem Mustafa, better known by his nom de guerre, Commander Remi, whose arrest in Pristina in August brought thousands of Kosovo Albanians on to the streets in protest. The others, two high-ranking in the KLA, all served with him in north-east Kosovo during the war. They were arrested in January. Mr Mustafa's lawyer, Mexhit Syla, called the charges "very serious, unfounded, and even insulting".

The men are accused of involvement in the kidnap, illegal detention and torture of ethnic Albanian civilians. Three of them, including Mr Mustafa, are also accused of ordering killings and committing killings themselves.

The United Nations, which has controlled Kosovo since Nato bombing drove out Serb forces three years ago, has been under intense pressure to deal even-handedly with excesses committed by both sides. Many Kosovo Albanians regard Mr Mustafa and his comrades as heroes of the liberation struggle but they have been frequently stigmatised by Serb sources as war criminals and terrorists.

Mr Mustafa has been accused of organising the exodus of some 220,000 ethnic Albanians from north Kosovo in 1999 and terrorising villagers.