Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office

Two more former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters have confirmed that they have been invited to give interviews 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.

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.

The Kosovo Specialist Prosecution has asked a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, Petrit Bojaxhiu, to come to the The Hague to answer questions about his conduct during the independence war of the late 1990s.

Bojaxhiu is currently serving as captain of the Kosovo Security Force.

The Dragash/Dragas War Veterans Organisation condemned the summons in a statement.

The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Prosecution has summoned Lulzim Kabashi, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, for questioning on allegations of crimes committed during the Kosovo independence war of the late-1990s.

"I have been invited by Hague prosecutors in the capacity of witness," Kabashi told BIRN.

He is due in The Hague on 24 September.

Isuf Gashi speaks to Kosovo media after being questioned by the Specialist Prosecutor's Office. Photo: BIRN.

"I was interviewed as a suspect," Gashi said after the interview.

He said that he told the Hague prosecutors that the KLA did not commit war crimes.

US lawyer Jack Smith has been appointed as the new Specialist Prosecutor at the The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers after the departure of his predecessor raised concerns that cases could be delayed.

In his outgoing address as Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor, David Schwendiman said that gathering evidence and locating witnesses to indict former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army had been tough.

In a surprise move, David Schwendiman, the chief prosecutor of the recently-established, Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers, announced he will step down soon because of his retirement as a US official.

Drita Hajdari told a debate in Pristina on Wednesday evening that Kosovo is obliged to back the new Specialist Chambers, set up in The Hague to prosecute former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters for wartime and post-war crimes.

"The issue of war crimes cannot be an isolated issue for Kosovo alone," Pristina-based prosecutor Hajdari said.

PRISTINA - The EU urged Kosovo assembly members on Friday to give up on an initiative to rescind a decision to set up a special court for war crimes committed in Kosovo-Metohija by the "Kosovo Liberation Army".