http://www.serbianna.com/columns/mb/035.shtml
Al Qaeda in Kosovo
"It's not true there were mujahideen in Kosovo. That is a figment of
your imagination." Sabit Kadriu, Albanian ÃâËhuman rightsÃââ activist
in
Kosovo while testifying against Milosevic at the Hague
At the April's international police conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria
reiterated that Islamic terrorism is creeping up in the Balkans.
Speaking at a regional police anti-crime conference, Bulgarian General
Boiko Borisov urged for "joint efforts to fight the global terrorism
network" calling on the participants from the likes of Germany, Albania
and Turkey to join efforts in limiting militants' access to financing
and to enhance security of transport and border control.
Earlier in March, the Bulgarian spy chief Kircho Kirov issued a more
specific warning on presence of al Qaeda in the Balkans and bluntly
stated that extremists with links to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network
are present in the Balkans and are infiltrating other European
countries. In a joint NATO-Bulgarian report published in March 2005,
Kirov cities Kosovo as a direct source of regional instability and a hub
for international terrorism.
Indeed, speaking by proxy is nothing new, so these broad and sweeping
statements by Bulgaria are significant because it is the US with its FBI
offices in Sofia that ultimately stand behind these statements. What is
not new is that Washington itself, as usual, has elected to remain mute
on the specific al-Qaeda presence among Kosovo Albanians so one is left
to search for the terrorist dots elsewhere in order to connect them.
For example, Reuven Paz, who teaches at Haifa University and is regarded
as one of Israel's leading researchers of radical Islamic movements,
says that the Islamic countries and particularly Saudi Arabia view the
conflicts in Kosovo as that of Islam against Christianity. "All of the
Sunni Muslim groups as well as Iran are making lots of propaganda for
Kosovo and see it as a symbol," Paz said. The reason for the propaganda
is to attract Muslim volunteers to go to Kosovo and fight. Al-Qaeda then
is the only well established network that can provide such a trip for a
young prospective Muslim eager to do his Islamic tour of duty and
willingly die for Allah.
While reports abound that Bosnian Jihadists simply swerved upon Kosovo
during the 1995-1999 period, Jane's International Defense Review
reported that some fresh Jihadists were entering Kosovo via Albania as
well. In February 1999 Jane's cites that documents found on the body of
a KLA member showed that he had escorted several volunteers into Kosovo,
including more than a dozen Saudi Arabians.
A more specific case is that of a Syrian-German businessman, Mamoun
Darkazanli, who was arrested in Hamburg in October of 2004 on charges
that he ÃâÅhelped fund the al-Qaeda terrorist network for years and who is
seen in a video at a mosque with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.ÃâÂ
According to the Hamburg authorities, ÃâÅDarkazanli is alleged to have
been involved in the purchase of a ship for bin Laden, handling
administrative details, and paying bills. He also allegedly traveled to
Kosovo in late 2000 on an al-Qaeda missionÃâÂ.
In 2003, NBC News acquired a videotaped statement of Muhammad Talal
al-Jafar al Tallani Ackbar al-Walid, described as al-Qaeda's Deputy
Under-Emir for Defensive Intelligence and Holy War Operations,
denouncing US and calling for world Jihad against the West. The report
then goes on to describe Muhammad Talal as one that was ÃâÅinvolved in
noteworthy military operations in the past, serving in covert operations
alongside the CIA in Afghanistan and in Bosnia and Kosovo before joining
al-Qaeda.Ãâ The report cites that American soldiers Lt. Gen. William
Boykin and Will Dunham contributed to the report.
Yet, the most blunt admittance that al-Qaeda is in Kosovo comes from the
big dogs themselves - Britain and the US.
Alarmed that al-Qaeda may hit Britain during the run-up to the May 5
general elections, UK says that "the main threat is posed by around 200
people based here who have been trained by al Qaeda in Afghan camps for
conflict in places such as Chechnya, Bosnia and Kosovo."
Also stated as an inadvertent afterthought that al-Qaeda is in Kosovo
came few weeks earlier by the FBI citing an arrest warrant for a certain
Kifah Wael Jayyousi accused of "conspiring with two other men in the
1990s to finance, recruit and provide equipment to extremists fighting
in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo and Somalia."
The question then is no longer whether al-Qaeda is in Kosovo, but rather
how could al-Qaeda have infiltrated Albanian inhabited areas of the
Balkans precisely during the period when the US was blanketing it with
its own troops.
The Albania Romance
Following the collapse of Stalinism in Albania, the newly elected
President Sali Berisha quickly decided to leverage his strategic
European location and Islamic heritage by placing his country on sale to
the highest Muslim bidder and acquire money from that Islamic sponsor.
According to the IWPR ÃâÅThe Islamic connection [in Albania] can be traced
back to 1992, when the Tirana-based Economic Tribune published a letter
from Berisha to his prime minister, Aleksander Meksi, in which he said
was going to help accept aid from Muslim countries because the West had
not lived up to promises of financial assistance.ÃâÂ
Islamic countries, and especially Saudi Arabia, were long interested in
using Albania as a hub via which to infiltrate Europe and Islamize it.
Albania quickly became a distinguished member of world Islamic
institutions, including the Islamic Conference and The Islamic
Development Bank.
Although there is no indication that the US was alarmed of the new
Islamic sponsors at the time, Washington initiated a takeover of Albania
and dully began supplying direct assistance following BerishaÃââs visit to
the US in March 1991 while in 1992 Washington deployed a Military
Liaison Team to the country and started outfitting the Albanian
military. Albania was subsequently used by the US and Turkey to provide
supplies to Bosnian Muslims in their war against Serbs.
While US was instituting a military takeover of Albania,
Albanian-Jihadist nexus was maintained by AlbaniaÃââs Chief of Security
Baskim Gazidede. Israeli Mossad documented that the Security Chief
Gazidede had extensive connections with the Jihadists and was the chief
link between al-Qaeda, Albania and KLA. Says Albanian Gazeta Shqiptare:
ÃâÅ'The Gazidede file', widely disputed of connections with the Islamics
must have already been completed with data which 'Mossad' has gathered
over the last years". Gazidede subsequently ran off to Syria, another
terror sponsoring nation.
Before his departure to Syria, however, Gazidede established training
camps across Albania and the often cited ones are in Tropoje and Bajram
Curi. Given the influx of al-Qaeda into Albania it is then logical to
conclude that these Jihadists had to have, at least, some form of an
orientation meeting somewhere in Albania before let lose in Kosovo.
Indeed, reports abound that US, British SAS and German BND trained,
equipped and used the Kosovo Liberation Army units, by now pregnant with
al Qaeda Jihadists, to destabilize Serbia. In March of 2000, for
example, London Times uncovered American agents that ÃâÅadmitted they
helped to train the Kosovo Liberation Army [KLA] before Nato's bombingÃâÂ
of Serbia while in August of 2000 the KLA deputy chief of staff Colonel
Dilaver Goxhaj gave an interview to UPI stating that senior Albanian
commanders were trained in Albania since 1991.
French Le Monde, furthermore, states that by ÃâÅ1996 the BND intelligence
service was building up its offices in Tirana and Rome to select and
train prospective KLA cadres. Special forces in Berlin provided the
operational training and supplied arms and transmission equipment from
ex-East German Stasi stocks as well as black uniforms.ÃâÂ
During March-May 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia, NATOs General Wesley
ClarkÃââs cell phone number was found among the killed KLA commanders in
Kosovo.
Seized KLA weapons such as American Barrett M82 .50 cal sniper rifles
along with German models, as well as reports of American 'Stinger' SAMs
used by KLA Albanians during their war with Macedonia also point to the
US-Albanian collaboration.
Finally, in February 2005, German Network TV ZDF concluded that the
Albanian ÃâÅKLA has stronger ties with the CIA than the [German] BND.
Commander Hoxha had ties with the CIA, the BND and with the Austrian
military intelligence service which has devoted great attention to this
region and has very good connections with the KLA."
Far from ignorant of al-Qaeda in Albania, the US appears to have had an
uneasy relationship with them. Illustrates Tirana based Gazeta
Shqiptare: ÃâÅThe arrests of Ahmed Ibrahim Al Naggar and Mohammed Hassan
Mahmoud, and the extradition of the director of the Revival of Islamic
Legacy foundation as a jihad collaborator in Tirana in June 1998, the
arrest of Amoid Naji in Turin of Italy and his deposition before Italian
investigators that he was in Albania to blow up the US embassy in
Tirana, and other facts of this kind go to prove that the activity of
terrorist jihad organizations is present and well-organized in Albania.ÃâÂ
Gazeta Shqiptare goes on to say that ÃâÅIslamic terrorist organizations
managed to set up Albania's first cell of the Islamic Jihad, which was
headed by Aiman Al Zavahiri.Ãâ the famous Osama bin Laden No. 2.
Regarding Naggar, the New York Times says that he is ÃâÅthe Jihad member,
[who] tied Mr. bin Laden directly to the network in AlbaniaÃâÂ. The Times
then provides a vivid detail: ÃâÅAlbania cell's members, most employed at
Islamic charities in Tirana, were forced to transfer 26 percent of their
salaries to Islamic Jihad.Ãâ The chief of the Albanian al-Qaeda, the
Egyptian Shawki Salama Mustafa, moved in there with his wife Jihan
Hassan, who later testified that their business was to turn out
passports and that she ÃâÅsaw a passport with my name on it and it said I
was Albanian".
According to the Global Policy, in addition to the drug and human
trafficking, Albanian criminal network in Brussells specializes in
forging of documents and false passports. An al-Qaeda operative, Djamel
Beghala, was arrested in Dubai after the customs agent recognized one of
these Albanian type false passports.
What these reports suggest is that Clinton extended his "don't ask,
don't tell" policy to Albania allowing it to assimilate al Qaeda within
the Albanian KLA army and only then to provide the training, equipment
and arms to them in order to wage war on Serbia. The "assimilation" part
is what kept Clinton safe from being accused of being in bed with the
al-Qaeda.
Since 9/11, the original mandate of waging war on Serbia appears to have
been appended with a danger sign: "Our presence in the Balkans has not
only promoted peace in the region, it has also enhanced our ability to
conduct counter-terrorism operations." said Gen. Richard Myers in 2003
following his trip to Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo.
Has the US established a firm enough infrastructure in the Balkans to
combat the terrorist Islamic plague emanating out of the
Albanian-dominated Kosovo?
The Bulgarian Romance
Denying Russia airspace in 1999 was historically unprecedented move by
Bulgaria that initiated its gambit to be the Western spy proxy in the
Balkans. During the bombing of Serbia that followed, moreover, Bulgarian
intelligence agents were used to point sensitive targets in Serbia and
later were inserted as a spy unit within the Dutch contingent of KFOR,
the NATO army that runs Kosovo. The KFOR Commander Reinhardt was rather
impressed by the Bulgarian spies so he extended their mission in order
"to activate the collaboration with the Kosovo population in the spying
and the collection of information".
To speed up the American intelligence approachment, Bulgaria made
another gambit and removed Russia from the Bulgarian picture. Impressed
by Bulgaria's removal of Russian spies out of their country, the
director of the FBI, Louis Freeh, said, "Bulgaria is a key strategic
partner for the U.S., not just in the security area," and announced in
March 2001 that FBI may open an office in Bulgarian capital Sofia.
In 2002, General Borisov was summoned to the US and, to his delight,
told that FBI will establish a permanent FBI office in Bulgaria.
In 2004, the US Embassy in Bulgaria announced that a permanent office is
in place and the mission is "to protect and defend the United States
against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats."
This year, FBI is undergoing an expansion that will open up 2,086 new
spy jobs, 615 agent and 508 Intelligence Analyst positions, of which FBI
plans to have permanent Legal AttachÃÂs in Bulgaria and Bosnia.
The NATO-Bulgaria spying agreement also indicates that NATO has decided
to make Bulgaria the spymaster not only for the Muslim Kosovo Albanians
but of Chechens with whom Bulgaria once shared a common Stalinist
brotherhood. The conspicuous Bulgarian spying on Chechnya along with
Kosovo indicates that the US may be alarmed at the already reported
Kosovo-Chechen terror network. In February of 2000, Russian intelligence
from the Federal Security Service (FSB) made a claim that "Chechen
warlords started buying up real estate in Kosovo... through several real
estate firms registered as a cover in YugoslaviaÃâ and have extensive
ties with the Albanian organized crime figures in Kosovo whose relatives
are involved in Kosovo politics and are seeking independence from
Serbia.
Therefore, Bulgarian blunt claims that al-Qaeda is in Kosovo are not
some haphazard blabber but rather a carefully orchestrated plan where
the burden of spying and intelligence discovery is shifted away from the
West because it is a diplomatic burden in their dealings with Kosovo
Albanians who were their proxy fighters and a manufactured, and a well
processed, ready-to-use pretext against Serbia.
Sidelining of Serbia
Sensing the imminent decision to anoint Bulgaria as the Balkan
spymaster, Serbian intelligence chief Momir Stojanovic gave an interview
to the official government news agency Tanjug in February 2004 and said
that Islamist militants - including al Qaeda - are actively operating in
Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia.
While the official pretext for StojanovicÃââs interview was to protest
previous day's NATOs declaration that Kosovo operations are ÃâÅa success
and a benchmark for future NATO missionsÃâÂ, StojanovicÃââs interview
reads
more like an invitation to the US rather then criticism.
Heavy on specifics, Stojanovic began touting that Serbia has "procured"
loads of detail on al-Qaeda in the Balkans: ÃâÅWe have also procured
evidence that Al Qaeda has its strongholds in Kosovo and northern
AlbaniaÃâ and their activities have also been reported in western
Macedonia", said Stojanovic then proceeded to make a direct sales pitch
of Serbia to the US with the statement that Serbia has a well
established spying infrastructure across the Balkans because the Serbian
intelligence agents have been monitoring the Islamists for more than a
year.
The then-Serbian Minister of Defense Boris Tadic, now President of
Serbia, quickly denied StojanovicÃââs claims although in September 2003
Tadic himself told a Macedonian newspaper that militant Islamic
organizations are active in the region and are acting in concert.
TadicÃââs denunciation of StojanovicÃââs statement was followed with a
similar NATO statement that publicly trashed StojanovicÃââs statement as
another Serbian gibberish.
The trashing of Stojanovic effectively sidelined Serbia and sealed
BulgariaÃââs anointing as the Balkan spymaster.
That Stojanovic was not talking gibberish, however, was proved in
December 2004 when an intelligence tip was made that al Qaeda operatives
were planning to land in Kosovo capital, Pristina, and use the Albanian
terror cells in Kosovo to attack US and the West but abruptly changed
these plans and moved in to another Albanian stronghold in the village
of Kondovo near MacedoniaÃââs capital Skopje. The US took this
intelligence tip seriously enough and shut the US embassy and all US
government offices in Skopje.
Washington Mute
While American stubborn denial, and often a belittling public
denouncing, especially of Serb sources, that al-Qaeda is in Kosovo may
be politically motivated, it is, nevertheless, fueling delusional belief
among Albanian public that al-Qaeda is not among them.
For example, Balkan Affairs Adviser for the Albanian lobby group in
Washington, the AACL, claims that ÃâÅBogus reports have proliferated since
the bombing of New YorkÃââs World Trade Center about Bin LadenÃââs
forays
into Albania and the existence of mujahedin training camps in KosovaÃâÂ
and that those reports have Serbian origin. The problem with this spin
is not that the followers of this lobby group get indoctrinated in
believing statements that are contrary to the facts, but that the
policy-makers close with the AACL may compromise the security of the US
in that region. For example, the most notable recepient of Albanian
money and a great friend of AACL, Senator Joseph Biden sits on the
powerful Foreign Relations Committe and is contempleting a presidential
run in 2008.
Although reports on al-Qaeda's Kosovo presence by FBI, USA Today, New
York Times or German papers hardly qualify as spin, the American silence
on specifics of al-Qaeda in Kosovo also impacts the Serbian side.
Infuriated by the silence, Serbian officials issue bellicose responses:
ÃâÅBelgrade should have done more and should have looked for partners in
the fight against terrorism" laments Rada Trajkovic, a deputy of the
President of the People council of the north Kosovo. Trajkovic is in
effect, blaming Belgrade for its inability to translate presence of
Islamic terrorists in Kosovo into a pro-Serb policy shift of the West on
the issue of the Kosovo status.
Of course, having Milosevic give a presentation on al Qaeda in Kosovo is
indeed the case where the messinger is killing the message, the case of
the US Embassy shut down in Skopje indicates that the the likes of
Stojanovic should be taken seriously. In fact, the January 2005 reportof
the Washington based Center For Strategic & International Studies
indicates that what Stojanovic has "procured" is taken seriously: "Al
QaedaÃââs influence in the Balkans was established a few years ago...
Islamist extremist groups in the Balkans such as 'Vehabija', 'Crvena
Ruza' (Red Rose), and 'Teratikt', which remain closely linked with Al
Qaeda, are active in Kosmet..., Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Albania, and Macedonia."
Furthermore, in eastern Kosovo's city of Pec, Wahhabies have established
an orientation camp where holy Muslim warriors congregate around a
recently erected Wahhabi mosque. The Mosque is run by certain Mahmutovic
from Sjenica, a Serbian city in area of Sadzak that is a brewing hotbed
of Islamic hatred of the West and the Jews. Sandzak is also the center
of the Islamic Community, an outfit that governs Balkan Muslim Imams
including the Albanian ones in Kosovo.
Based on these reports then, the map of al-Qaeda centers in Kosovo
indicates a satellite-type organizational structure: KLA controls the
center of Kosovo with Drenica as the stronghold with strategic satellite
to the west near Junik necessary for control of smuggling routes from
Albania. Just across from Junik range is Tropoje and Bajram Cura,
another reportedly al-Qaeda centers in Albania itself.
The control of Shar Mountain range to the southeast can be used by
al-Qaeda to send groups into Macedonia to wage violence there as well as
maintain logistical support for their criminal enterprise in other
al-Qaeda centers in western Macedonia such as the cities of Tetovo,
Gostivar and Kichevo.
The reported Al-Qaeda presence in the Pomoravlje region in the East
Kosovo appears to be the staging area for fomenting violence into
southern Serbia while the northern al-Qaeda satellites such as in
Bajgora, north of Mitrovica, is there to foment fear among Serb
communities in Mitorvica, most sizable in Kosovo, and thus give them an
incentive to leave. The reports also indicate that a so-called Abu Baqr
Sadiq mojahedin unit is operating in southern Mitrovica, indicating that
the city is surrounded and ready to be cleansed of Serbs at the next
outbreak of violence in Kosovo that may dwarf the one that occured in
March 2004.
Could this be a deliberate set up that will be used as the pretext to
allow the Serbian troops back into Kosovo according to the UN Resolution
1244? Or is a deliberate in the other direction: to finally exterminate
all Serbs out of Kosovo?
One can interpret Washington's silence both ways.
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