The only check on their activity is the diligence of Nato's Kosovo Force K-For and especially its British contingent
The only check on their activity is the diligence of Nato's Kosovo Force (K-For) and especially its British contingent. And that force will be armed by the West.In the meantime, while the UN and its civil administrator Bernard Kouchner moves agonisingly slowly towards setting up the structures for a civic society, the KLA has formed an interim government under MrThaci and is busy filling the political vacuum.Serbian businesses and homes are being allocated to KLA supporters, "taxes" are collected from shops and appointments made at state enterprises. "They would not know and would not approve," the businessman said.Mr Thaci's supporters also blame rogue elements and point out that even if the KLA hierarchy were intent on withholding part of its arsenal instead of handing it to Nato, they would hide the weapons away and not sell them off.The counter-argument from others within the KLA is that what the organisation needs now more than anything else is hard foreign currency - it can afford to lose some of its stock of weapons.This shortage will not last long; KLA members have been invited by the United Nations to form the nucleus of Kosovo's new police force and army, the National Guard. A Swiss- based businessman with ties to the KLA, said he was convinced that the trafficking was being done by rogue elements within the organisation and that neither Mr Thaci nor Mr Ceku was involved. Some of it is weaponry that was bought by the KLA which is now being put back in the market; other weapons have been taken from Serbians.
A lot of KLA soldiers bought their own weapons and there are reports they are selling them again to Albanian dealers."We don't believe this is sanctioned by the KLA leadership. If they don't want to hand over their whole stock they will be keeping them safe and hidden, not selling them off."There is no evidence that the organisation's leader, Hashim Thaci, and its chief-of-staff, General Agim Ceku are aware of the trade. But Nato sources also believe a significant quantity has been sold off to dealers with the complicity of some senior KLA officials.A senior Nato official said: "We have had reports of arms going to Western Europe. "He must tell the leaders of the KLA that they have a responsibility to live up to their side of the bargain," said Mr Simpson.At Luzane, where the KLA's weapons are being collected under the Nato agreement, the numbers that have been seized by Alliance troops are 10 times greater than those voluntarily handed in.
One concerned Labour MP, Alan Simpson, a long- time opponent of the arms trade, is planning to write to Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, urging him to remind the KLA that it made a commitment to disarm at the end of the Nato liberation campaign. Only last week, AKM and AK-74 assault rifles, explosives, RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades, M2HB Browning heavy machine guns and Claymore anti-personnel mines were being touted round London, according to potential customers who spoke to The Independent.It is a growing trade but the Foreign Office and Customs and Excise say they know nothing about it. The borders with Albania and Macedonia are effectively wide open and the smugglers who fill the shops of Pristina with consumer goods can organise the arms that are flowing in the other direction - out of the province. It is this traffic that is now reaching the UK. Liberated Kosovo is awash with guns and there are plenty of people, like Mr Xhaki, to ensure that supply meets demand abroad. SITTING AT Tricky Dick's bar in Pristina, sipping ice cold beer, Bekim Xhaki reels off a list of what is on offer: Kalashnikov AK-47s can be bought for 150 German marks (pounds 52), Browning semi-automatic pistols forDM80 There is heavier gear available near Podujevo .. and he knows a man who can help.
While liberated Pristina is still partying - its cafes full, patriotic music blaring in the square - tensions are building, the journalist claims "On the surface you can see little It's all happening in the night.". One local journalist, a disillusioned former rebel supporter, claims that some former rebels are intimidating their own people in a bid to undermine support for their rival, Ibrahim Rugova."This is not what we fought for, " says the journalist bitterly. Kosovars, who are suspicious of the KLA, think that the move to a quick vote is wise. But there does now seem to be an attempt to curb the activities of the former rebels, and meet challenges to UN authority head on. It is a delicate business, for the UN does not want to push the KLA, widely regarded as heroes at home, into opposition.Bernard Kouchner, the UN's senior administrator in Kosovo, is also offering the KLA a share of power in Kosovo's transitional council."The idea," says a UN insider, "is to focus the KLA on preparing for election rather than trying to operate their own provincial government."If Mr Kouchner has his way elections may take place as early as next May. First, a letter advising a Serb to leave Kosovo is slipped under the door Twenty-four hours later, a few thugs pay a house call.
Physical violence and even murder is then visited upon those who refuse to leave. Ironically, it is a recycling of the same tactics employed by Serbs against Albanians. As one international aid official puts it: "Serbs are not living here; they are hiding. The reality is that this is now an Albanian country".No one in authority says that the KLA, or a faction within it, is orchestrating the campaign of violence. It is highly unlikely that these people were involved in persecuting Albanians. But that does not seem to matter to the thugs who are now terrorising them."Intimidation follows a familiar pattern.