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.