Beta News Agency, Belgrade
April 28, 2004
KFOR arrests Lushtaku for participation in March violence
PRISTINA - KFOR arrested the former commander of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army Sami Lushtaku this morning on suspicion of involvement in the violence that broke out in March in the province, as well as other criminal activities, peacekeeping forces in Kosovo have confirmed.
Members of KFOR arrested Lushtaku after 7:00 a.m. on Thursday in the village of Srbica in north Kosovo, said KFOR spokesman Jim Moran.
Moran said that Lushtaku was arrested on suspicion of involvement in activities connected with the eruption of violence in March.
The KFOR spokesman emphasized that Lushtaku's arrest had nothing to do with his activities as a KLA commander.
Sami Lushtaku was one of the founders and a regional commander of the demilitarized KLA in the Drenica region.
He was also arrested this morning on suspicion of involvement in criminal activities, including extortion from Kosovo Albanians.
Lushtaku was born in 1961 in the village of Donje Prekaze near Srbica.
He has been sentenced in absentia by the Pristina district court (under the Serbian regime) to a term of 20 years in prison for the crime of terrorism.
According to official Serbian sources, Lushtaku completed his military training in the Republic of Albania. In 1997 he participated in the abuse and massacre of Serb civilians imprisoned in a camp in the village of Likovac, also near Srbica.
During the Kosovo war he was appointed by Hashim Thaci as the commander of the KLA's second operational zone in the Prizren area. He was also the deputy head of the Kosovo secret service and, among other duties, was responsible for the engagement of volunteer units from Drenica sent to the area of Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja in south central Serbia to participate in battles against Serbian security forces.
In 2001 Lushtaku was dismissed from the position of commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps in the Drenica region upon the insistence of the U.S. administration. He was also banned from carrying weapons, a ban he repeatedly violated and was therefore detained several times by KFOR troops for informational talks.
After that he left Srbica out of fear of arrest and lived for a time in the Republic of Albania in the city of Kuks.
Fatmir Limaj, also a former KLA commander, was arrested last year following indictment by the Hague tribunal.
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B92 version:
Peacekeepers arrest former Kosovo guerrilla commander
| 11:17 -> 14:54 April 28 | Beta
PRISTINA -- Wednesday - International peacekeepers in Kosovo have arrested a former ethnic Albanian guerrilla commander on suspicion of involvement in the wave of violence that swept the UN-governed province in March.
Sami Lushtaku was arrested at around 7.00 this morning in northern Kosovo, Jim Moran, a spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR, told Beta news agency.
Moran said that Lushtaku (44), one of the founders of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, was arrested in connection with rioting in mid-March in which 19 people died and thousands of Serbs were driven from their homes. He stressed that the decision to detain Lushtaku had nothing to do with his actions as a commander of the guerrilla army in clashes with Serb security forces in 1998 and 1999.
Lushtaku was regional commander in the KLA heartland of Drenica. In 2001, he was dismissed as local commander of the KLA-successor formation, the Kosovo Protection Corps, on the insistence of Washington.
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www.beta.co.yuBeta News Agency, Belgrade
April 28, 2004
BELGRADE - Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija president Nebojsa Covic said that the arrested regional commander of the former Kosovo Liberation Army Sami Lushtaku is a known criminal going as far back as the former Yugoslavia, not only for his involvement in the violence last month.
KFOR arrested Sami Lushtaku in Srbica on Wednesday morning on suspicion of involvement in violence that erupted in March in the province, as well as other criminal activities, peacekeeping forces in Kosovo have confirmed.
"It's a good thing this occurred. I believe that Lushtaku is on one of the Hague lists but because he has been transferred to Bondsteel from where prisoners have been known to escape in the past, I'm afraid that he may escape as well," said Covic at a press conference in Belgrade.
Covic expects further action following the arrest of Lushtaku, warning that since 1999 UNMIK has failed to find or punish a single perpetrator of violence and ethnic cleansing against Serbs and other non-Albanians.
"Confidence in UNMIK is a very open question," underscored Covic.
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Ruch: Lushtaku arrest not based on Hague tribunal indictment
HAGUE - The former commander of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army Sami Lushtaku was not arrested on the basis of a Hague tribunal indictment this morning, stated Jean-Daniel Ruch, advisor to the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte.
At the same time, Ruch expressed confidence that the Hague tribunal will be issuing one or more indictments for war crimes committed in Kosovo by the end of the year.
"We don't know anything it," said Ruch at a regular press conference when asked about Lushtaku's arrest.
However, he underscored that the Hague tribunal prosecutor's office "is continuing its investigation of crimes committed in Kosovo".
"I am convinced that by the end of this year we will be able to issue one or more indictments," said Ruch.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, the prosecutor's office must end all investigations and issue all indictments by the end of 2004.
KFOR arrested Lushtaku on Wednesday morning on suspicion of involvement in anti-Serb violence that broke out in March in the province, as well as other criminal activities, including extortion of money from Kosovo Albanians.
KFOR spokesman Jim Moran emphasized that Lushtaku's arrest had nothing to do with his activities as a KLA commander.
Sami Lushtaku was one of the founders and a regional commander of the demilitarized KLA in the Drenica region.
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Thaci's party and Cheku condemn Lushtaku's arrest
PRISTINA - Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo and the association of former fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army have condemned the arrest of senior Kosovo Protection Crops official Sami Lushtaku.
KFOR arrested Lushtaku on Wednesday morning on suspicion of involvement in anti-Serb violence that broke out in March in the province, as well as other criminal activities
Sami Lushtaku was one of the founders and a regional commander of the demilitarized KLA in the Drenica region.
KPC commander Agim Cheku assessed Lushtaku's arrest as bad news.
Cheku said that "the reasons for his arrest are still unknown but everyone who knows him believes in his innocence. We cannot believe that he has done anything contrary to the law."
The KPC commander assessed that such arrests are counterproductive and will not contribute to a calming of the situation after the March violence.
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Demonstrators in Srbica demand Lushtaku's release
SRBICA - Following the arrest of former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Sami Lushtaku, mass demonstrations have been organized in Srbica on Wednesday.
Demonstrators sent an ultimatum to representatives of international forces to release Lushtaku by midnight, announcing that if they failed to do so they would resort to more radical means, the International Press Center in Kosovska Mitrovica advised.
KFOR arrested Lushtaku on Wednesday morning on suspicion of involvement in anti-Serb violence that broke out in March in the province, as well as other criminal activities.
Sami Lushtaku was one of the founders and a regional commander of the demilitarized KLA in the Drenica region.