Kosovo's PM accused of arms, drugs and human organs trafficking

Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci who for many years has been supported by the U.S. and the EU turned out to be the head of a criminal gang that committed a number of very serious crimes. This is stated in the draft report prepared by a member of the Commission on Respect for Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Dick Marty.

Last weekend elections were held in Kosovo that brought victory to the Democratic Party headed by Thaci. However, Swiss member of PACE Dick Marty ruined the politician's festive mood on December 14. In his draft report he stated that in 1990s Thaci was a head of a criminal group engaged in kidnapping, human organs trafficking and assassinations. Western authorities have ignored the information about his activities.

British The Guardian reported that the information was found that evidenced that the Drenica group was chaired by a prominent political figure, and perhaps the most recognized member of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the world, Hashim Thaci. He and other members of the Drenica group are constantly referred to as key players in the intelligence reports on the Kosovo organized crime.

The reaction of the Kosovo-Albanian authorities was immediate. They stated that Kosovo government and Prime Minister Thaci will take all necessary measures and steps, including legal and political, to stop Dick Marty's defamation. In turn, the former Prime Minister Agim Ceku suggested that the report was prepared by Serbia in an attempt to tarnish the image of the "fighters for the independence of Kosovo."

Marty's report (if published) can unequivocally be perceived as a political bomb. However, we cannot say that his statement was revolutionary. The information about criminal activity of Thaci and warlords of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was published by Serbian police and the media of various countries over ten years ago. However, there was no reaction of the authorities of the U.S. and EU countries. To them, Thaci was "a fearless fighter against the terrible Slobodan Milosevic."

Hashim Thaci, nicknamed "The Snake," back in the mid-1990's joined the Kosovo Liberation Army, an armed Marxist group fighting for the secession of Kosovo from Serbia and the creation of Greater Albania. For many years the western media reported that the KLA was financed by the proceeds from the sale of heroin to Western Europe, and Thaci used techniques such as violence and intimidation to fight with his competitors.

According to Serbian law enforcement officials, Thaci was not at all a pure champion of the idea of Greater Albania. He did not disdain smuggling weapons, vehicles, oil, cigarettes, and pimping. His sister is married to one of the leaders of the Albanian mafia. For all his "deeds" Thaci was sentenced in Serbia to ten years of imprisonment back in 1997. However, the arrest did not take place - for the Western leaders "The Snake" was still a hero.

After the Albanian leaders unilaterally declared the independence of the province on February 17, 2008, new details of the horrendous life of Prime Minister Thaci came to light. A former prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, Carla del Ponte, has published a sensational book, "The Hunt" where she accused "The Snake" of trafficking organs of slain Serbs. Western leaders once again remained silent, although the details described would make any sane person shudder.

According to del Ponte, the Hague Tribunal had information that in 1999 the KLA fighters took abducted Serbs by trucks to Albania, where they were subject to horrible torture. Then the young and healthy were fed well and then their kidneys and other organs were removed. Through the airport of the Albanian capital of Tirana the organs were taken to Western Europe, Israel and other countries.

In addition, in her statement del Ponte made it clear that some forces did not let the Hague Tribunal hold a serious investigation of Thaci. The West at that time was interested only in the crimes committed by Serbs. The atrocities against the Serbs themselves presented virtually no interest to the United States and the European Union.

"The information on criminal activities of Hashim Thaci has been long known, and Marty did not discover America," journalist Timur Blokhin who studies the Balkans told Pravda.ru. "Hundreds of Serbs, gypsies and disloyal KLA Albanians lost their hearts and kidneys. Of course, "The Snake" was not involved in the operations, but he was protecting the criminal business and received up to 80 percent of the revenues from these activities."

"The West finds itself in a very precarious situation. Thaci is one of the ideologists of Kosovo independence who enjoyed the patronage of the United States and the European Union. It turns out that the leading countries of the West have been supporting the person whose hands are covered in blood. The countries that have not recognized Kosovo's independence will have a new trump card in support of their position after Marty's publication. Those who have recognized Kosovo would certainly prefer to hush up the case in exactly the same manner as in the case of del Ponte's report," believes Blokhin.

"Kosovo is a sacred cow of the United States," Pravda.ru was told by Elena Guskova, head of the Center of the Modern Balkan Crisis Studies with the Institute of Slavic Studies RAS. "Since the report has become public, it can be assumed that the US gave the go-ahead to publish it. Why did this happen? Obviously, the West expects the authorities in Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence, and now it's time to throw a bone to Belgrade in the form of the compromising material on Thaci."

"Serbian law enforcement agencies have been collecting the materials about criminal activity of Thaci for years. Strictly speaking, no other business, except for criminal one, is possible in Kosovo. This is exactly what Thaci and his supporters did trafficking arms, drugs and organs. I would also note the growing role of the media. If the materials of Marty's report had not been published by The Guardian, there would not be that much talk about them," Guskova thinks.

"It is possible that while preparing the report, Marty was guided by a sense of solidarity with his compatriot Carla del Ponte. Both of them are from Switzerland, and the deputy continued the work of the prosecutor out of national pride. While the book "The Hunt" had been shrugged off by the Western leaders, it will be much harder to ignore the facts in the report prepared by Marty," said the expert.

Vadim Trukhachev

Pravda.Ru

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