-Caveat Lector- =========================== The Committee for National Solidarity Tolstojeva 34, 11000 Belgrade, YU Part 2/4: Interview with Corin Ismali ===================================== IF THEY FIND ME, THEY WILL KILL ME: Interviews with pro-Yugoslav Albanian Refugees from Kosovo Transcribed and edited by Gregory Elich Interviews with Faik Jasari, Corin Ismali, and Fatmir Seholi, members of the Kosovo Democratic Initiative. Comments by Biljana Koteska, First Secretary of the United Nations Law Projects Center in Belgrade, Bajram Haliti, Secretary of the Republic of Serbia Secretariat for Development of Information on the Languages of National Minorities, and editor of "Ahimsa", and Jovan Damjanovic, President of the Roma organization in Yugoslavia Interviewed by Barry Lituchy, Joe Friendly, Ayman El-Sayed, Ken Freeland, Jeff Goldberg and Gregory Elich, members of the North American Solidarity with Yugoslavia Delegation Belgrade, August 9, 1999 [CONTINUATION] [Lituchy] Tell us your name, and what town you're from, and also what your position was in the Albanian community in Kosovo. [Ismali] Corin Ismali, from Stjema, near Lipjana. [Lituchy] What position did you have in the Albanian community? [Ismali] I was under-secretary in the Executive Council in Kosovo for national social questions, and also secretary for the party. [Lituchy] Would you tell us what happened after the bombing stopped in Kosovo? [Ismali] After the NATO bombing stopped, we had to leave Kosovo because KFOR did not guarantee us freedom, or peace, or the possibility to walk in the evening without being afraid of KLA soldiers. [Lituchy] Did you speak with KFOR at any time and ask for their protection? [Ismali] We wanted to speak with Mr. Kouchner, but we could not meet with him. We don't know the reason. No one told us why. [Lituchy] Are you a refugee from Kosovo. [Ismali] Yes, we had to leave Kosovo. [Lituchy] Why did you leave Kosovo? [Ismali] Because I was not safe in Kosovo. [Lituchy] Were you threatened by anyone in Kosovo? [Ismali] Yes, because I supported Yugoslavia, and I opposed secession. That is why I had to leave Kosovo. [Lituchy] Why did, or do, Albanians support Yugoslavia? [Ismali] Because we want to live with other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. We do not want to live in a country that has only one ethnic group. [El-Sayed] Do Albanians in Kosovo want to live in Yugoslavia, but they are forced to listen to the KLA? [Ismali] Yes. They are forced by the KLA to leave Kosovo because they don't want to join the KLA. [Lituchy] Why did some Albanians join the KLA? Why do you think? [Ismali] We don't know, because that is their own opinion. [Lituchy] What percentage of the people in Kosovo of Albanian background do you think would have been happy to stay in Yugoslavia without the KLA? [Ismali] Almost all of us want to return to Kosovo, to live in Kosovo with other ethnic groups, if someone could guarantee our safety. About eighty percent of refugees want to return. But we are afraid of the KLA. [Lituchy] When you left Kosovo, what did you leave behind? [Ismali] I left approximately one million Deutsche Marks in Kosovo: houses, property, fields, cars, furniture, everything. [Lituchy] By profession, why did you do? [missing segment during change of tape] [Lituchy] What kind of government do you expect the KLA will establish, now that they've gained power? [Ismali] They want a one-ethnic government. [Koteska] You asked him a question about why Albanians joined the KLA. You have to know that many of them had to join the KLA, because if they don't join them, they will kill and torture them. They will rape their wives, daughters. They had to do that. [Lituchy] Was any member of your family threatened, injured or killed? [Ismali] No, because we left Kosovo in time. [Lituchy] What day did you leave Kosovo? [Ismali] We left Kosovo on the 16th of June. [Lituchy] And you haven't been back? [Ismali] No. I left my opstima [similar to county] fourteen months ago, because they threatened me to leave Stjema. Then I moved to Brezivica, and I left Brezivica on the 16th of June. [Lituchy] Would you like to return to Kosovo? [Ismali] Yes, of course. Why not? [Lituchy] Do you think you will ever get back your property? [Ismali] I think I will get my property back in one or two years. [Freeland] How many incidents are you personally aware of people having their wives raped, or being killed, because they refused to join the KLA? [Ismali] I don't know that. [Lituchy] Under what conditions do you think you might be able to return to Kosovo? [Ismali] If our army and police return to Kosovo, I will go the same day. The reason is that I must have peace, freedom, and no one to threaten me before I can return to Kosovo. [Lituchy] Do you think you will return soon? [Ismali] I don't know that. It depends on the situation. [El-Sayed] Do you think the United States created the KLA? [Ismali] They had support, but I cannot say whether the United States formed the KLA. [Lituchy] You didn't go to Rambouillet, is that right? [Ismali] No, I did not. [Lituchy] Did you ever meet with any of the American or NATO forces at any time? [Ismali] No. [Lituchy] Why do you think the United States intervened in Kosovo? Why did it want to break up Yugoslavia? [Ismali] They have their interests, and they wanted to install their military bases in Kosovo. [Lituchy] Is there anything you would like to say to the American people about what the United States government has done in Kosovo? [Ismali] I want to say to the American people not to intervene in our Yugoslav problems. We will solve these ourselves. [Friendly] Does the KLA give any indication of their interest in democracy, or do they tend to be more totalitarian? [Ismali] I think it won't be democracy. [CONTINUED...] http://www.iacenter.org/elich3.htm Secretary General Mrs. Jela Jovanovic Art historian =========================== DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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[CTRL] If They Find Me They Will Kill Me, 2/4
Mrs. Jela Jovanovic, Secretary General Mon, 20 Sep 1999 10:07:46 -0700
