-Caveat Lector-
>From www.iwpr.net
>
>
> The KLA's New Model Leader
>
> An architect of Operation Storm which saw Croatia defeat and expel the
> Serb population of Krajina, Agim Ceku, the KLA's new chief will be
> hoping for similar successes in Kosovo.
>
> By Drago Hedl in Rijeka
>
> Decorated nine times by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman for his
> exploits in Croatia's war with Serbia and its Serb minority, Agim
> Ceku, the recently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Kosovo
> Liberation Army (KLA) will be hoping to achieve similar military
> successes in his native Kosovo.
>
> Born in the province's second city of Pec in 1960, 39-year-old Ceku
> resigned from the Croatian army in February this year, after a
> distinguished seven-and-a-half year career in which he rose to the
> rank of Lieutenant-General, less than one month before the beginning
> of NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. His last post was as
> commander of Croatia's fifth military district in Rijeka.
>
> In an interview with the Rijeka daily Novi List, Gen. Ceku said that
> he would be drawing on his experience from the Croatian war in his new
> job as the KLA's chief. Of particular use, he said, would be the
> understanding of Serbian military tactics he had picked up while
> fighting them.
>
> Although Croatia has generally remained quiet on the war in Kosovo and
> President Tudjman has sought not to irritate his Belgrade ally in the
> division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian sympathies, nevertheless,
> lie with the Kosovo Albanians. It is believed that Croatia has already
> been assisting the KLA, if not with arms, then at least with
> battle-tested ethnic Albanian fighters who have served in the Croatian
> army.
>
> According to Tom Marku, the Kosovo Albanian leader in Croatia, a
> special ethnic Albanian unit was formed within the Croatian army in
> 1991 which Zagreb hoped to send to Kosovo in order to open up a second
> front during Croatian-Serbian war . The plan was thwarted, however,
> because of opposition from Kosovo's Albanian leader and pacifist
> Ibrahim Rugova.
>
> Since the outbreak of war in Kosovo in February last year, these
> soldiers have been returning home to fight the Serbian authorities.
> Marku told the Croatian daily Jutarnji List that a further 16 ethnic
> Albanian officers are about to quit the Croatian army in order to join
> the KLA.
>
> Unlike many of Croatia's "instant generals" who acquired their ranks
> virtually overnight with minimal or no prior military experience, Gen.
> Ceku is a professional soldier and former officer in the Yugoslav
> People's Army (JNA). A tall and powerful man, he is a graduate of
> Belgrade's military academy, which, given his ethnic origins, was
> quite an achievement at the time.
>
> Like many non-Serbs in the JNA, Gen. Ceku deserted early on in the war
> with Croatia. In October 1991 he joined an embryonic Croatian army,
> which, at the time, resembled the present-day KLA, in terms of
> organisation, manpower and equipment.
>
> Although a proliferation of military awards in Croatia has somewhat
> debased their value, the nine decorations which Gen. Ceku received for
> his achievements in a Croatian uniform as well as his rank, are
> probably indicative of an inspirational contribution to the operations
> he conducted.
>
> Croatian military analysts consider Gen. Ceku the brain behind the
> Croatian Army's Medak Pocket offensive, in which Croatia captured
> several villages in Lika from Serb rebels in September 1993. He was
> also a key planner of Operation Storm, Croatia's greatest military
> victory, of August 1995 in which the city of Knin, hitherto the
> headquarters of the Serb rebels, was retaken, thus effectively ending
> the Serb revolt.
>
> During both the Medak Pocket offensive and, in particular, Operation
> Storm the victorious Croatian army is alleged to have committed a
> series of war crimes. These are currently being investigated by The
> Hague Tribunal, although no public indictments have been issued to
> date.
>
> According to a report of Croatia's Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
> published in April of this year, 410 civilians died in operation
> Storm, which officially lasted from 4 to 7 August 1995, and in the 100
> days following the offensive. However, it is estimated that the real
> figure may be as high as 600, since many people are still listed as
> missing. In the wake of Storm, some 180,000 Serbs fled their homes,
> and some 22,000 of their vacant houses were systematically destroyed.
>
> The question which preoccupies Western analysts now is whether Gen.
> Ceku was involved in any of the alleged war crimes. On the basis of
> the available evidence, it seems that he was not.
>
> Unlike other Croatian officers involved in the Medak Pocket offensive
> and Operation Storm, Gen. Ceku has not featured in any of the reports
> of the various non-governmental organisations which have investigated
> what took place. Nor has his name cropped up in articles examining the
> offensives published in independent media.
>
> Gen. Ceku has generally sought to keep a low profile and avoid media
> appearances, preferring to focus on military issues--an approach he
> wishes to maintain in his new position.
>
> Asked what he thinks will happen in Kosovo once the war is
> over--whether it will be independent, or an autonomous region of
> Serbia--he responded: "I am a soldier and my task is to look after the
> army, the situation on the battlefield, and to wage war successfully."
> He promised to fight until forces loyal to Slobodan Milosevic were
> expelled from Kosovo and to leave politics "to our government headed
> by Hashim Thaci."
>
> Drago Hedl is home affairs editor of Rijeka's independent daily Novi
> List.
>
>
>
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> Kosovo & Serbia
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