Kosovo Ex-Guerrilla to ‘Defend Just War’ Under Questioning

Samidin Xhezairi has been invited to give an interview to the Kosovo Specialist Prosecution in The Hague, which is investigating alleged violations by Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighters during and just after the 1998-99 war, his brother said on Wednesday.

His brother Hajredin Xhezairi said that Samidin Xhezairi, also known by the nickname Hoxha (Imam), will agree to the questioning.

"Naturally, commander Hoxha will respond positively to this invitation and will try to best protect the just war of our legendary army, the KLA," Hajredin Xhezairi wrote on Facebook.

Samidin Xhezairi was mainly known during wartime for his activity with the KLA's 125th Brigade, which operated in Prizren, and became its chief of staff.

In an interview with Forumi Shqiptar (Albanian Forum) website, Xhezairi has described how he returned from Austria in 1998 to join the KLA and fight against Serbian forces. He had previously been working as a medical technician in a hospital in Vienna.

The Specialist Prosecution is 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.

Since last year, it has invited over 100 former KLA fighters for interview.

Last week, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, former Kosovo Assembly speaker Kadri Veseli, was called for questioning, while Kosovo's Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned in July after being asked to give an interview as a suspect.

Those charged by the prosecutors are expected to be tried by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. No indictments have been made public yet, however.

The Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecution are formally part of the Kosovo...