The American Council for Kosovo: Unofficial Visit of Agim Ceku to Moscow an Opportunity for a Firm and Conclusive Message Regard
November 27 2006 - 3:40PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Regarding the forthcoming
unofficial visit to Moscow of so-called "Prime Minister" of the
Serbian province of Kosovo, Agim Ceku, the American Council for
Kosovo submits for the consideration of the Russian government and
people, and of international opinion generally, the following: 1.
Mr. Ceku's visit to Moscow is not an official one, as confirmed by
the Russian Ambassador in Belgrade, nor is his visit on the
initiative of Russian authorities. To the contrary, his visit was
agreed to by Moscow only after repeated requests from Mr. Ceku
himself and, according to press reports, following consultation
with Belgrade. 2. Accordingly, Mr. Ceku's visit to Moscow should
not be taken as a sign of a shift of Russia's position in favor of
Kosovo Albanian demands for the illegal and forcible detachment of
Kosovo from Serbia. To the contrary, as stated by State Duma
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov, the
Russian decision finally to agree to Mr. Ceku's request is aimed at
"bolstering Serbia's territorial integrity and preventing [an
imposed] decision on Kosovo's status." 3. The fact that Russian
authorities are even willing to meet at all with a person of Mr.
Ceku's odious record is a testament to the extent to which Moscow
is determined to consult with all sides of the Kosovo conflict in
an effort to reach a just settlement. Mr. Ceku, formerly military
commander of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA), is a
terrorist and a war criminal, no better than the late Shamil
Basayev and Khattab in Chechnya. According to the 2002 Serbian
indictment for genocide and other grievous offenses, Mr. Ceku bears
command responsibility for the murders by KLA terrorists of 669
Serbs and 18 members of other ethnic groups, 518 counts of
inflicting serious bodily harm (including torture) and wounding,
and 584 counts of abduction, many of the victims of which are
presumed dead. Mr. Ceku was named military commander of the KLA in
May 1999. The following month, after the end of hostilities between
Serbia and NATO forces, KLA terrorists under Mr. Ceku's command
intensified their attacks on civilian Christian Serbs, driving
two-thirds of them from the province, as well as against Roma
(Gypsies), Croats, Jews, Ashkalis, Gorani, and other non-Muslim or
non-Albanians in Kosovo. Over 150 Orthodox Christian churches and
monasteries have been demolished or desecrated. Prior to his
affiliation with the terrorist KLA, Mr. Ceku was responsible for
numerous atrocities in other parts of the former Yugoslavia.
(Further background about Mr. Ceku's record and his unfitness to
claim leadership of an independent state is available from the
American Council for Kosovo, specifically the Council's statement
of June 19, 2006).
http://www.savekosovo.org/default.asp?p=9&leader=0&sp=73 4.
Mr. Ceku's visit to Moscow comes as Kosovo Albanians and their
supporters have launched a desperate diplomatic and public
relations blitz in an effort to regain lost momentum in light of
the postponement of any decision on Kosovo's final status, once
said to be "inevitable" by the end of 2006. Despite claims that
independence will be announced soon after Serbia's January 2007
elections, there is no credible expectation that an illegal
solution to the Kosovo problem, imposed under threat of terrorist
violence from Mr. Ceku and his associates, will be any more viable
than it is now. 5. The American Council for Kosovo appeals to the
Russian government and people to ensure that Mr. Ceku's Moscow
visit is used as an opportunity for a firm and conclusive
restatement of Russia's principled position: that no solution may
be imposed on Serbia without Serbia's agreement or in violation of
the United Nations Charter
http://www.savekosovo.org/default.asp?p=10&leader=0&sp=174.
The unmistakable reality is that Kosovo independence is off the
table. 6. The prospective failure of Mr. Ceku to secure Russian
support for his cause should be seen as an opportunity for the
international community to shift decisively to an effort to find a
real and lasting solution for Kosovo within a democratic, European
state: Serbia. Such a "European solution" for Kosovo, in accordance
with the U.N. Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, would address the
legitimate needs of all of Kosovo's residents regardless of
ethnicity or religion, and would be the product of genuine
negotiations -- which have yet to begin. It's now time for
responsible representatives of Kosovo's Albanian community to step
forward to work with Belgrade for such a solution. The American
Council for Kosovo (http://www.savekosovo.org/) is a U.S. nonprofit
organization dedicated to promoting a better American understanding
of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija and of the critical
American stake in the province's future. The Council's mission is
to make accurate information and analysis about Kosovo available to
officials of the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S.
Government; to think tanks, media, NGOs, religious and advocacy
organizations; and to the general public. In particular, the
Council's educational activities will generate a heightened
American awareness that an independent Kosovo -- forcibly and
illegally detached from Serbia, as is now being contemplated by the
international community -- would be harmful to U.S. national
interests and to European and global security. The American Council
for Kosovo is an activity of Venable LLP and Global Strategic
Communications Group, which are registered under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act as agents for the Serbian National Council of
Kosovo and Metohija. Additional information with respect to this
matter is on file with the Foreign Agents Registration Unit of the
Department of Justice in Washington, DC. DATASOURCE: American
Council for Kosovo CONTACT: Darren Spinck of American Council for
Kosovo, +1-202-213-7747, Web site: http://www.savekosovo.org/
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