Kosovo Ex-Guerrilla Rejects Summons from Hague Prosecutors

Former Kosovo Liberation Army member Bashkim Gashi has rejected an invitation to give an interview about his role in the 1998-99 war to the Hague-based Specialist Prosecutor's Office, the Association of KLA Veterans said on Monday, TV21 reported.

"Gashi… was invited to show up [in The Hague] on September 24, but he has not received any additional clarifications, so we suggested he accept the next invitation in order to not create any precedent for others," the Association of KLA Veterans was quoted as saying.

Since last year, the Specialist Prosecutor's Office has interviewed around 40 former KLA fighters, including several others who are also high-profile politicians. Many have said they wanted to prove to the prosecutors that the KLA's war against Serbian forces was legitimate and 'clean'.

The Specialist Prosecutor's Office is tasked with probing killings, abductions, illegal detentions, sexual violence and other crimes allegedly committed by KLA members from the beginning of 1998 to the end of 1999.

The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers is expected to try those indicted by the prosecutors. No indictments have been made public yet, however.

The Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecution are formally part of the Kosovo judicial system and operate under Kosovo law but are staffed by international judges and prosecutors. They are widely resented in Kosovo, where many see the KLA as a liberating force that freed the country from hostile Serbian rule.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned in July after being asked to give an interview to the prosecutors as a suspect.