MISTER THACI

AIM Tirana, May 10, 1999

"I am the Director of the Political Directorate of U K. I was unanimously proposed by the General Staff to become Head of the Albanian delegation in Rambouillet. I was unanimously appointed Prime Minister by U K, by LDK (Rugovas Party), by LBD (Qosja Party) and by the independent representatives, Surroi and Shala, based on an agreement signed in Rambouillet". In other words, this interview of Hashim ThaØi, the Premier of one of the present Kosovo governments, broadcast... by the Albanian television, clarified his nomination in the position, which caused lots of discussions.

Who is this misterious U K man that attracted the attention of the western diplomacies and media in the Rambouillet meeting and in Paris, where the agreement for a " substantial autonomy" in Kosovo was signed? Where does he come from?

He is 31 years old. Presently, he is the leader of the temporary government in Kosovo and conducts the military operations on ground. He was born in Buroj village of the Skonderaj commune in Drenica. When he was 16 years old, he joined the political activities and became one of the main organizers of the students` protests in 1989. He studied history at the University of Prishtina.

He came to Tirana for the first time at the beginning of 1991. Afterwards his visits were more frequent. " I came to Tirana for the first time on a private trip when I was a student. I worked in the Institute of History on a post-graduate thesis ", Thaci recalls. In 1993 he got involved in the organisation of Kosovar resistance in Albania. It was the year when the Kosovo Liberation Army started to be mentioned. Afterwards, an incident in the Berisha regime obliged him to leave Albania. He was accused in Tirana of having " illegally kept a gun ", thus risking a trial which might bring him to jail. Thaci emigrated to Switzerland and Austria where he continued his studies on political sciences.

In 1996 he was condemned to 10 years of imprisonment by a Serbian trial against active members of U K. Bajram Kelmendi was his advocate. Although he was chief of the Political Directorate of U K, he also participated directly in and lead several battles in Kosovo, like that of the March 16th, 1998. Since then, he still has a mark on the right side of his face, caused by a piece of a mortar shell.

" Snake and falcon", that was the name that the weekly French "L"Espresse" put to the young Kosovo leader immediately after the discussions in Rambouillet. His objection to Madalaine Albright, the declaration that one of the members of the Serbian delegation threatened him with his life, his trip to Ljubljana to consult Adem Demaci (who had openly declared himself against the agreement) and his meeting with the European NATO Commander, Clark, were the main actions which put Thaci at the center of everyone`s attention.

" Le Monde" newspaper those days stated that "Albanians dared to object America. A young guy, till then unknown by the Western Councellor, in the name of U K fighters, refused to relinquish the request for independence... ". According to people who stayed with him during those long " imprisonment " days in Rambouillet, despite the objections the head of the Albanian delegation managed to keep a strange cold-bloodedness which made Albright say: " This is the only Albanian politician who knows what he wants ".

Four days before the second round of discussions in Avenye Kleber, he faced the people who accused him of having delayed the signature and of having disappeared exactly at the decisive moment. Soon, the declaration of the ex-candidate for President of the USA, the Republican Bob Doll, arrived. " We cannot wait any longer for Mister Thaci to appear ". " Albania" newspaper in Tirana criticised the just-elected Kosovo Premier of being irresponsible for the great mission he had taken over. While the ex-Premier, Bujar Bukoshi, attacked him in a satellite transmission on TV by saying that Thaci is idling about and is hiding from the international community at a time when he should speak on behalf of the Albanian delegation in Rambouillet. The head of DP, Sali Berisha said to journalists that Hashim Thaci was hiden by the Albanian Foreign Minister Milo.

Under calls for a quick " Yes" of Albanians in the Ramboulleit meeting, the disappeared Thaci was being attacked from all sides. Ismail Kadare from Paris, one day before the second meeting in France, criticised the Albanian leaders for " showing off" (it is clear he meant Thaci). While everybody asked where Hashim Thaci had disappeared to, Reuter journalist, Kurt Schork, wrote that the political director of UCK had passed the Albanian-Serbian border and was in Drenica to consult the commanders of the area and to finally decide whether UCK should sign the agreement about which the other members of the Albanian delegation had said " YES ".

" Hashim and his accompanying group needed 48 hours walking to pass over the border ", narrates one of Thaci`s men. Having the military uniform on, Thaci had arrived in Gllogjan village where Ramush Haradinaj, commander of Rrafshi i Dukagjinit area, was. " The Sultan ", general commander of UCK, accompanied him in all the meetings he had in various villages with the commanders of those areas.

" They gave me full support and authorised me to sign the agreement on behalf and in the name of UCK. This was indispensable to take a decision ", said Hashim Thaci.

Hashim Thaci stayed only four days in Drenica. Afterwards, OSCE armoured vehicles and another car with the American, Shon Burns, on arrived in an UCK base. So, from Drenica Thaci had left for Prishtina where he would take the French aircraft and the three-coloured special troops to bring him to Paris. The news that Hashim Thaci left for Paris from Kosovo uncovered the mistery of his disappearance. Exactly at the time when the newspapers, news agencies, radio and TV stations in Belgrade announced the news of " criminel Thaci, condemned with 10 years of imprisonment, is wanted ", Thaci managed to enter Prishtina.

More than a challenge to the Serbs, Thaci`s departure to Paris from Kosovo seemed to be e reply to all those Albanians who attacked him.

Critique and attacks against Thaci do not come only by Bukoshi, who also claims to be the Prime Minister of Kosovo. Even before, but especially after the Paris discussions and after NATO bombardments, politics in Albania was divided in two parts. The opposition openly came against Thacis government, while the majority in power recognised it and gave them access to all aspects. But why this division? First, the just-elected government was attacked by Berishas clans, which in the immediate climbing up of this group of people saw a decline in their influence on the other part of the nation.

Meanwhile the current majority, immediately after the announcement of Thacis cabinet, did not hesitate to show their enthusiasm. First, because it was a long time they had been investing on this group of people, second, because the non-friendly position of Rugova towards the left-side Albanians had left its marks, and third, because involvement of Bukoshis people in the events of September 14th, 1998, when the Prime Ministry and Albanian TV station were attacked, left bad memories.

Relations among Thaci`s people and the Albanian government had been more than good. Ex- Premier Nano was the first Albanian politician who institutionalised the relationship with UCK, by considering it a serious alternative to resolve Kosovo crisis. " It is true that the first direct official meetings with the Albanian government were those of June 1998 with the Premier, Fatos Nano ", confirms Thaci himself, who does also not object that at that period of time UCK was provided with weapons even by Albania.

Critique and suspicion addressed to Thaci and UCK have also not missed inside Albania and abroad. He is accussed to be a left-hand guy, a marxist-leninist. Moreover, Bukoshi did not hesitate to warn people in an interview given to a German newspaper that they (i.e. Thaci and his men) could change the Kosovo of tomorrow into a " new Cube within Europe ".

Presently Hashim Thaci is in Kosovo and uses a satellite phone to communicate. He is waiting for the end of this war, either by joining NATO ground troops, or by hoping that one day the international community will be convinced to provide " the soldiers of freedom " with weapons.

ARMAND SHKULLAKU (AIM)