KLA Veterans Back Presevo Albanians' Wish to Join Kosovo

The head of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans' Organisation, Hysni Gucati, told Kosova Press news agency on Tuesday that former KLA guerrillas agree that the Albanian-majority Presevo Valley area of Serbia should become part of Kosovo, but that they oppose giving any land to Serbia in return.

"We are for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovc joining Kosovo, but we are not for giving territory to anyone," Gucati said.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has been suggesting the idea of what he has called a "border correction" in negotiations with Serbia, and has proposed bringing to the negotiating table the demand from ethnic Albanians in the Presevo Valley of southern Serbia to join Kosovo.

Gucati said however that KLA veterans are not sure what a "border correction" actually means.

"We are very much interested in a correction, but which part should be corrected?" Gucati asked.

After Thaci's statement that he will insist that the Presevo Valley issue is raised in Brussels during negotiations with Serbia, ethnic Albanian representatives from the region met him on Monday in Pristina.

After the meeting, they asked for political parties to in Kosovo to pass a resolution supporting their demand to become part of Kosovo.

But Ilir Deda, an MP from the opposition Alternative party, said that there was "no resolution request from the Presevo Valley to unite with Kosovo" and accused Thaci of using Serbia's Albanians for his own purposes.

He also said that the Albanians from the Presevo Valley should not get involved in the current political battle in Kosovo over the negotiations with Serbia "because they will not gain anything from it".

Isa Mustafa, leader of the opposition Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, said after meeting...