Albania
SEE Security Monitor: Albania
Text of unattributed interview with Agim Krasniqi, commander of rebel ethnic Albanian group in Kondovo, Macedonia; place and date not given: "There are only Albanians, not Muslims, in Kondovo", first paragraph is Gazeta Shqiptare introduction, published by Albanian newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare on 10 August
The crisis in Kondove [Kondovo] will not be resolved if "the amnesty is not guaranteed". Agim Krasniqi, leader of the armed groups in the "rebel" village in Macedonia, declared to Gazeta Shqiptare yesterday that the tense situation is due to Macedonian forgetfulness. The Shkup [Skopje] government has still taken no measures to resolve the problem. Meanwhile, the armed groups have warned that if their demands are not met the situation would be further aggravated. "We continue to remain here, armed and ready to fight the Macedonian forces," Krasniqi said. He admitted that he is disappointed by the negligence of the authorities.
[Gazeta Shqiptare] How true is it that Islamic extremists have come to Kondove? This problem was also discussed at the meetings of BDI [Democratic Union for Integration] Chairman Ali Ahmeti with the leaders of the Albanian state. Are there Islamic extremists in your midst?
[Krasniqi] Ali Ahmeti is a weak player. He is doing the game of Cervenkovski, who has mixed up the Albanians with the Islamic extremists. This way, Ali Ahmeti is justifying Cervenkovski's game. But Ahmeti forgets that we are Albanians, too. He is making a disastrous mistake when he declares that there are attempts to infiltrate Islamic extremists into Kondove. There is no Albanian fighting for Islam and this is true not only for Kondove, but also for the whole of Macedonia and Kosova [Kosovo]. There are no Albanians fighting for Islam here in Kondove. I am saying this with certainty: there are no Islamic extremists. We are a group of people who are fighting a war. There are no Islamic extremists among us. He (Ali Ahmeti) is making a big mistake when he says this to all Albanians.
[Gazeta Shqiptare] Have you received any response from the Macedonian authorities about your demands?
[Krasniqi] No response. Nobody has come here to contact us. Nobody has given us assurances that our problems will be resolved. We are here, armed and ready for anything unexpected. We are waiting for the reaction of Shkup, but this has not happened yet.
[Gazeta Shqiptare] Have you had any contact with the Albanian leaders in Macedonia during this time?
[Krasniqi] The Albanian leaders come here, talk to us, promise a lot, but do nothing. Arber Xhaferi and Ali Ahmeti came here in December and asked us to hand over our weapons and give the politicians a chance. However, they left and did nothing for us. We are still at risk. The Macedonian forces want to arrest us and put us on the dock. What we want is only to live free, like everybody else.
[Gazeta Shqiptare] You are asking, above all, for the amnesty... [ellipsis as published]
[Krasniqi] We are asking for the amnesty. We are asking that our war should be institutionalized and be given importance, so that the families, which have lost their members in this war, are given the martyr's status, like it has been done with the Slav-Macedonian families. However, we are asking, above all, for the implementation of Oher [Ohrid] Agreement, which has been violated and has not been implemented in many of its points.
[Gazeta Shqiptare] How long will you continue your resistance?
[Krasniqi] We will stay here, with weapons in our hands, as we did during the war in 2001. We have confined ourselves here for four years and we will not move away until all our legitimate demands are fulfilled. We have forces capable of withstanding the Macedonian attacks. We will not give up.
Source: BBC Monitoring / Gazeta Shqiptare, Tirana