FEUILLETON Pogrom 2004 - first time on organizers and instigators (1): Secret meetings on planning the ethnic cleansing

The Security and Intelligence Agency of Serbia has prepared a publication titled "March Pogrom of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija in 2004" on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the pogrom against the Serbs in Kosovo. As stated in the publication, the data contained therein for the first time points to the real organizers and perpetrators of the pogrom. Kosovo Online is publishing integral parts of this publication.

Plans by Albanian extremists to seize power in Pristina and ethnically cleanse the Province of the Serbs by inciting a general uprising were made at secret meetings organized by Albanian extremists.

Several secret meetings were held on this issue at various locations, with the most significant being meetings secretly held at the apartment of Azem Sula in Pristina, in the Peyton neighborhood. These meetings, attended by the leadership of the PDK, close political parties and organizations, as well as the leadership of the SHIK, resulted in decisions to organize the uprising and the March Pogrom against the Serbs.

With the same goal, two significant meetings were held in the village of Smira, municipality of Vitina, at the house of Ejup Ameti, on October 29 and November 15, 2003. At the meeting on October 29, Emrush Xhemajli, Sadik Halitjaha, and several others from Pristina, as well as some villages in the municipalities of Srbica, Glogovac, and Prizren, participated.

At this assembly, a new meeting was held at the end of November 2003, attended by Xhavit Haliti, who conveyed instructions to those present regarding further activities related to intimidating members of the LDK, as well as preparations for the liquidation of certain activists of this political organization. Discussions also took place regarding activities aimed at organizing a general uprising that would target the complete expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija.

During the meeting held on November 15, 2003, it was specifically agreed upon who would organize the uprising in Vitina and Gnjilane. Therefore, at this meeting, some members of the former so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac participated. These individuals were staying in the municipality of Gnjilane at that time. Among them were Muhamet Xhemajli, also known as Robeli, who was later liquidated in a mutual criminal confrontation in Gnjilane, and Avdil Jakupi, known as Jackal, from the village of Tanushevci, North Macedonia, as well as several other individuals from Vitina.

Members of the illegal Albanian security service SHIK demonstrated particular involvement in the preparations for the uprising and ethnic cleansing of Serbs. They organized their members on the ground in municipalities and encouraged extremists to participate in destructive demonstrations and attacks on the Serbs in their homes.

A significant portion of armed members of SHIK, besides the main attack on the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, was assigned to conduct armed actions against Serbian residents in Caglavica and surrounding Serbian villages.

It was agreed that a group of armed extremists led by Driton Goxhaj, an officer of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania, would join them. This group would lead the attack from the left side, towards the Pristina–Skopje road, while on the right side, an armed group of extremists led by Mahir Hasani, a former non-commissioned officer of the Yugoslav People's Army, would carry out the attack.

SHIK and other members of Albanian extremist groups also organized the distribution of weapons, which were allocated to members of groups according to territory. Sniper rifles were distributed to groups that would operate in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, where they anticipated the strongest resistance from the Serbs and international military representatives.

In the armed attack on the Serbs, as well as members of the French KFOR contingent in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, a terrorist group led by Ibrahim Kelmendi from Pec was involved. Members of this group included Agron Sulejmani, Florim Ejupi, Shkumbin Mehmeti, Faik Shaqiri, Alban Dizdari, Bedri Krasniqi, Bajram Ismali, Qerim Kelmendi, Faton Sulejmani, and others.

This is a group of extremists and terrorists who organized and carried out numerous crimes and political assassinations in Kosovo and Metohija after 1999, under the orders of the extreme Albanian political wing (PDK, LPK, LKCK) and SHIK.

In addition to the activities of extremist groups, certain authorities in Kosovo and Metohija also played a significant role in organizing armed rebellion and ethnic cleansing of Serbs, particularly Jakup Krasniqi, who was serving as Minister of Public Services in the provisional Government of Kosovo at the time. Their involvement in organizing and carrying out violent armed actions against the Serbs and international military representatives (KFOR) in Kosovo and Metohija was exposed by representatives of the US mission in Kosovo and Metohija, the following day, on March 18, 2004.

Certain representatives/imams of the Islamic Community of Kosovo also played a significant role in preparing these armed and violent activities. They encouraged worshippers to participate in the rebellion and ethnic cleansing of the Serbs during religious gatherings in mosques, stating that they must forcibly remove UNMIK and KFOR from Kosovo and Metohija, replace representatives of the LDK Ibrahim Rugova's party with trusted fighters of the former KLA who are solely responsible for the "freedom" in Kosovo and Metohija.

Primarily, this category included imams who were known to be associated with radical Islamists and mujahideen. This primarily concerns imams such as Samidin Xhezairi, known as Hoxha from Prizren, and Musa Ademi from the village of Smira, municipality of Vitina, among others.

The entire organization of the March Pogrom against the Serbs followed a plan drafted by extreme Albanian political organizations such as the PDK, LPK, and LKCK, with active participation from the illegal Albanian security service SHIK. All key individuals were aware of the plan in advance; they were only waiting for a suitable incident to initiate the implementation of the already agreed-upon activities.

Tomorrow: Weapons transported to attackers even in ambulance vehicles