The United Nations in Kosovo yesterday suspended five senior members of its civil defence force accused by the United States of supporting ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia. The five are former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army which fought Serbs in a civil war two years ago.
Last week Washington banned them from entry to the US by including them on a blacklist of 22 men accused of links with Macedonian guerrillas. The move followed news that the former chief-of-staff of the Kosovo Protection Corps, Mr Gazim Ostremi, had defected to lead the ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia.
This suspension covers the new chief-of-staff, Commander Daut Haradinaj, the commander and deputy commander of its Rapid Reaction Corps and two of its six regional commanders, including Mr Mustafa Rrustem, one of Kosovo's most popular former guerrillas.
Earlier this week, the UN had refused to take action, complaining that Washington had failed to pass on any information to back its allegations. But on Thursday US diplomats stepped up the pressure, telling the UN's mission chief in Kosovo, Mr Hans Haekkerup, that he risked creating a split in the international community if he failed to follow the US lead.
Yesterday, following several hours of hurried discussions with senior figures of the KPC, Mr Haekkerup announced that the men would all be suspended pending an investigation.
"Due to the seriousness of the allegations put forward by the US Government, and after having consulted with the United States and other nations, an investigation against these persons has been initiated," Mr Haekkerup declared in a statement. He ordered the men to hand in their uniforms and firearms by 6 p.m. to UN officers.
Hours later the head of the KPC, Mr Agim Ceku, resigned, though UN officials were last night trying to convince him to change his mind.
The KPC was originally formed as part of a tacit understanding between the Kosovo Liberation Army and the UN. In return for disbanding its guerrilla force, the KLA commanders would be paid and trained within a new force, the KPC, officially designated for civil defence.
This plan has worked well. The KPC, paid £7 million a year by the UN, is well disciplined and has been praised by NATO armies who help to train it. Its members have kept to promises not to use firearms and are well disciplined. But evidence has appeared that many have been aiding the rebels in neighbouring Macedonia. In fact, for many Kosovans, this is no more than returning a favour, since Macedonian ethnic Albanians joined the war against the Serbs, which ended with NATO's bombing campaign.
Shortly before news of his suspension was announced, Commander Rrustem said there was sympathy among ordinary ethnic Albanians for the rebels next door. "Maybe some people want to go and help them (the Macedonian rebels), there is a very big debt," he said.
Commander Rrustem denied that he himself was involved in supporting the rebels.
A statement faxed to local media by a group called Macedonia Paramilitary 2000 urged Macedonian leaders not to bow to pressure from Western envoys to rewrite the tiny Balkan state's constitution to improve the status of minority Albanians.
Diplomats warned that talk of a NATO weapons-collecting mission within two weeks looked premature, despite a National Liberation Army statement that it would end its armed struggle in the name of better rights for ethnic Albanians if reforms were agreed.