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| Interview: The Unlikely Pacifist |
|
| Leader of the
Macedonian National Liberation Army discusses war and the quest for
peace |
|
NEWSWEEK
INTERNATIONAL |
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|
Sept. 10 issue — Only two
months ago, NATO called him a terrorist. Now Ali Ahmeti, the political
leader of the Macedonian National Liberation Army (NLA), garners praise
from Western diplomats as a reliable partner for peace. As one observer
put it, he “has the potential to be the Albanian Gerry Adams.” Last
Wednesday, the soft-spoken 42-year-old met with NEWSWEEK’s Juliette
Terzieff and Rod Nordland at his mountaintop command center in the village
of Sipkovica, outside Tetovo, Macedonia. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Now that you’ve turned more than 1,100 weapons over to
NATO, do you expect the Macedonian Parliament to live up to its end of the
peace agreement and pass new reforms?
AHMETI: On our side, we’re satisfied everything is going the way we
planned. The cooperation between NATO and the NLA is really at a high
level. [The government’s action] doesn’t depend on us. We will do our duty
to the international community. | | |
|
Will the NLA really give up all of its weapons?
We will definitely give up every weapon we have. We
have faith in the obedience of our soldiers. I really don’t believe any
Albanian should have weapons because we will have democracy.
Haven’t you kept some reserves in case the peace
process falls apart?
Yes, we have
“reserves”: they’re the guarantees from NATO, the European Union and the
United States that this process will stabilize the situation. I really
don’t think the peace process will fail.
How does it feel to be labeled terrorists?
The international community didn’t know enough about the climate of
discrimination in Macedonia and our people had to work hard to make them
see. They no longer have the same reservations about us as before... We
never targeted civilians, only policemen and soldiers. We are not
terrorists. | | | |
| | 
Have you released all the Macedonian hostages you were holding, and
what about those civilians who were tortured by the NLA?
Yes, we’ve released all of them. We’re still
questioning a lot of our soldiers, but when we find out who [tortured
civilians], they will be punished.
NATO
insists its troops will leave after their 30-day mandate expires. What
guarantees are there that the peace process will continue once they’re
gone? | | |
| |  We have received
guarantees from the European Union, the United States and NATO that they
will remain engaged, that they have mechanisms in mind—such as
international monitors—to observe the situation. We trust the
international community. There are also forces on the Macedonian side who
are forward-looking, trying to direct things along the road to
peace.
Some Albanians aren’t happy with
the peace deal, and there are groups like the Albanian National Army who
have renounced it. Do they pose a danger?
We will respect the deal. And the Albanian people have to
understand we signed an agreement that is favorable for our [rights]
inside Macedonia. This was not a war for territory because the territory
already belongs to us, and by “us” I mean Macedonians and Albanians, both
communities. It simply wasn’t in anyone’s interests to create a situation
of civil war. [As for the ANA], they are very few and we don’t think
they’re a big threat. They could create some incidents maybe, but it won’t
have a big effect.
You sound
surprisingly optimistic.
If I wasn’t an
optimist I wouldn’t have joined this war—and I have to be more so now. It
took a war to get this far, and it will be an even bigger battle to
achieve peace. And in the end, it will be the biggest battle of all to
maintain that peace. | | |
| |  Do you believe in a
Greater Albania?
This is just a term.
I don’t think people of the 21st century should be encouraged to have a
Greater Albania, or a Greater Kosovo, or a Greater Serbia, or a Greater
Macedonia. Instead the idea should be to have open borders among
functioning democracies, as in the European Union.
Do you consider yourself a Macedonian or an Albanian?
I am a Macedonian citizen first, and
only after that a Macedonian-Albanian. I’ll be proud to fly the Macedonian
flag when Albanians in Macedonia have equal rights.
© 2001 Newsweek,
Inc.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/622862.asp#BODY | |
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