>SCENT OF VICTORY STOKES KLA RIVALRY
>KLA leader Hashim Thaci puts views across to western politicians in an
>attempt to outmanoeuvre Rugova
>Jonathan Steele
>While it struggles on the battlefield to widen its pockets of resistance to
>Serbian rule, the Kosovo Liberation Army is also launching a diplomatic
>drive in the west to supplant the role of Ibrahim Rugova, the unofficial
>"president" of Kosovo.
>Hashim Thaci, the KLA's 31-year-old political leader, slipped out of the
>province a few days ago and yesterday held talks with Robin Cook, the
>foreign secretary. Earlier, he met Strobe Talbott, the US deputy secretary
>of state, and in Paris, the French foreign minister.
>"The KLA is changing, politically and militarily," Mr Thaci told the
>Guardian. "Our forces are being re-organised and professionalised. We are
>an army, not just a series of groups. We have structure and hierarchy."
>With the prospect of Kosovo becoming an international protectorate once
>Serbian forces are removed, the approach of victory has re-ignited the
>rivalries which bedevilled Kosovan politics for most of last year.
>Western governments are dismayed that the tenuous unity forged at the Paris
>peace talks in March has broken down, and that Mr Rugova and the KLA have
>both reverted to public name-calling.
>The rift was dramatically underlined when he and Mr Thaci had separate
>meetings with the French foreign minister on Thursday, and failed to talk
>to each other. "Mr Rugova didn't want to see me. I sat in the Albanian
>embassy in Paris, but he didn't come," Mr Thaci said.
>After Nato started its bombing campaign, Mr Rugova was held under house
>arrest in Pristina and twice taken to see the Yugoslav president, Slobodan
>Milosevic. He signed a joint document calling for Nato to stop the bombing.
>After his unexpected release, Mr Rugova has been touring western capitals,
>where his non-violent approach was always welcome in the years before the
>KLA started the armed struggle.
>The KLA claims Mr Rugova's release was a ploy by Mr Milosevic to divide the
>Kosovans. Some even describe him as "Milosevic's emissary".
>Mr Rugova has called the KLA "extremists" and Mr Thaci accused Mr Rugova of
>having lost the support of most of his own party.
>"What he says has no importance. He does not have any political or military
>control of what is going on," Mr Thaci said.
>He also charges Mr Rugova's colleague, Bujar Bukoshi, with failing to pass
>the KLA any of the money raised by Kosovans abroad. "We get nothing from
>him. It's a big problem. Only Bukoshi knows what's happened to the money,"
>he says.
>The KLA has long been pushing for Nato ground troops to go into Kosovo. Mr
>Thaci refuses to criticise any aspect of the bombing campaign or Nato's
>increasing emphasis on hitting power stations, water supply facilities, and
>bridges.
>"The air strikes should continue and be intensified. They have our full
>support. Without them things would be worse in Kosovo. It would be a
>tragedy," he says.
>He acknowledges that the situation for the thousands of Kosovans inside the
>territory is "very difficult". "Half the population is still there. They
>are trying to hang on in very difficult conditions. The KLA is trying to
>defend them and get them food."
>He claims the Yugoslav army is weaker than it was, thanks to Nato bombing.
>"It no longer has the level of morale it had at the beginning. It is
>seriously disorganised, and there are numerous cases of troops disobeying
>orders. Protests are also growing among Serb civilians. They are convinced
>they've lost the war."
>Mr Thaci does not deny that western governments may be arming the KLA. "We
>are getting weapons from our democratic western friends," he says. Asked if
>that means from governments, he smiles: "Perhaps. History will reveal all."
>In the last few days the KLA has started an offensive in south-western
>Kosovo, trying to push into the territory from its bases in northern
>Albania.
>"We want to open a corridor to Prizren. It's hard but we have had some
>success in the last few days. The work is going on."
>The KLA has already pushed into Kosovo further north at Kosare. In
>addition, it continues to maintain several zones in Drenica and northern
>Kosovo.
>The KLA's political leader welcomes the indictment of Mr Milosevic. "It
>will help the international effort to solve the problem, because he is the
>problem." But Mr Thaci is on the alert for any concessions to Mr Milosevic
>in the current bargaining with the Russian envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin.
>"Not a single Serbian soldier can remain in Kosovo if we are to have a
>genuine political solution. No refugee will have the courage to go back if
>Serb forces or paramilitaries stay."
>The young KLA leader spent most of last year in Kosovo with the
>independence fighters, though he was never a KLA commander.
>At the end of the Paris peace talks in March, the Kosovan delegation, which
>included Mr Rugova, decided to appoint a provisional government for the
>territory, to be headed by a representative of the KLA. Sources say it was
>expected that the job would go to Jakup Krasniqi, the KLA's chief
>spokesman, but instead the KLA appointed Mr Thaci.
>In a culture where family connections are strong, part of Mr Thaci's
>influence comes from the fact that he is the nephew of Azem Syla, one of
>the founders of the KLA.
>To try to patch the rift among the Kosovans, the Albanian government has
>proposed that the Kosovan delegation from the peace talks form a national
>security council. The plan has strong support from Madeleine Albright, the
>US Secretary of State.
>But Mr Thaci made it clear that the council would not replace the
>government, which he heads as prime minister.
>Some critics believe Mr Thaci is repeating Mr Rugova's mistakes by failing
>to consult other Kosovo Albanian politicians before starting his current
>tour and by putting too many eggs in the west's basket.