"Balaj was under Haradinaj’s command"

The Hague, August 30 (Source: B92) - The Haradinaj et al. trial continued at the Hague Tribunal this week with another witness testimony. The second accused in the trial of the three former KLA commanders, Idriz Balaj, a.k.a. Toger, and his special unit, the so-called Black Eagles, were subordinate to Ramush Haradinaj, who commanded the Dukagjin zone. This was evidence given Tuesday by a former officer of FARK –Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo. FARK were KLA’s rivals, loyal to Ibrahim Rugova and the government in exile.

For security reasons, he testified under a pseudonym, and with image and voice distortion. Witness 17 said he and his fighters had come to Kosovo from Albania in late June 1998. In the next two months he attended several meetings between Tahir Zemaj, FARK commander and his KLA opposite number, Ramush Haradinaj. Idriz Balaj always escorted Haradinaj. According to the witness, Balaj never spoke at the meetings. He was there as the bodyguard of the Dukagjin zone commander. At those meetings, Haradinaj demanded that the FARK units place themselves under his command. Tahir Zemaj refused to do so. The resulting tensions lasted until late August 1998, when FARK finally became part of the KLA.

The witness claims that he asked Haradinaj to "remove or discipline" Idriz Balaj on two occasions in the summer of 1998. The FARK command had received many complaints from the locals about Balaj’s participation in the abductions and arrest of their relatives. Haradinaj replied that he "knew of the rumors about Toger" and that he would "deal with it". Nothing changed, though: Balaj remained in command of the Black Eagles. Ramush Haradinaj was informed about the KLA crimes at a meeting in the village of Prapacane on August 20, 1998. The witness’s fellow fighter from FARK told Haradinaj that "the fish in the Radonjić lake feed on human flesh", meaning that bodies were dumped in the canal.

He called for the crimes to stop. It was clear that the appeal was addressed to the KLA commanders, because it was a well known fact that "irresponsible members" of the KLA took part in the abductions and murders. Witness 17 went on to say that he had heard from the local Albanians that many of the prisoners had been taken to the Glođane HQ, never to return. This was Ramush Haradinaj’s command post. This fact is undisputed by his defense.

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