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Haradinaj's comments on this; the part about surrendering if indicted is probably of most concern to UNMIK & NATO.

Kosovo PM says war crimes probe based on Serb lies

swissinfo December 8, 2004 11:45 AM

Kosovo PM says war crimes probe based on Serb lies

By Matthew Robinson

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Kosovo's new premier has said Serbia fabricated
evidence he committed war crimes as a commander of ethnic Albanian guerrillas, and indicated he
would surrender if indicted by The Hague.

"We have proven our commitment to international justice and to the Hague tribunal. If more is
needed from us -- and from me personally -- I will fulfil my duty as a citizen," Ramush Haradinaj told
Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.

The stocky 36-year-old was elected prime minister on Friday by Kosovo's Albanian-dominated
parliament.

He expressed pride for his role in the uprising against Serb security forces in 1998-99, but has
been questioned twice by investigators from the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, which plans
to indict some former Kosovo rebels this month.

Serb leaders say the new prime minister was behind a string of atrocities against Serb civilians.

Haradinaj, denying this, said the probe against him was based on "fabrications from Belgrade" and
he was confident it would come to nothing.

"All the tribunal has is the stuff the Belgrade government gave it," he said in English, dressed in a
dark blue suit and red tie. "I explained to them that I did my duty as a citizen at that time ... and that it
is wrong to pursue the fabrications of a government which committed genocide here.

"They wouldn't wait until now if they really had a case," he added, sipping tea in his Pristina office.

Haradinaj's comments may soothe Western fears of having to order NATO peacekeepers to arrest
him, a move diplomats say could provoke a violent backlash from Kosovo's majority Albanians who
see him as a hero of their independence struggle.

The U.N. governor of Kosovo, which has been a protectorate since 1999 though still formally part
of Serbia, said he would not block Haradinaj's election as part of a new coalition, although the EU
and NATO appeared to have misgivings.

"NO TIME TO LOSE"

Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas were being pounded in 1999 before NATO launched a bombing
campaign and expelled Serb forces to end what they said was Serbia's ruthless disregard for
civilians.

Serb leaders branded Haradinaj's election "risky and provocative".

Belgrade newspapers have been awash with graphic reports of kidnap, murder and rape that
"police sources" say were carried out by Haradinaj and his forces.

With or without an indictment, Western diplomats concede Haradinaj's presence is sure to sour an
already unsavoury relationship between Kosovo's U.N. overseers and Belgrade.

The United Nations has rejected angry Serb calls to annul the election in October after which the
new coalition was formed, saying it was democracy in action. Serbs, a minority in the province of two
million people, boycotted it en masse.

But belligerence in Belgrade could fan tensions and slow efforts to ready the province for
negotiations in mid-2005 on its future.

An internal U.N. report has warned against delay, after devastating Albanian riots in March against
Serbs and other minorities exposed mounting Albanian pressure for independence.

Serbia says its sovereignty over Kosovo cannot be challenged. But Haradinaj, who lost two
brothers in the guerrilla war, predicted independence within 12 months.

"The international community is aware of the merit in normalising this society," he said. "We don't
have time to lose. We must all work to end the process of final status, I think by the end of the year."

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