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Profile of the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo and Kosovo Liberation

Army (KLA or UCK)305

Aims and Objectives

Secession by the province of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and unification with Albania.

Political and Religious Affiliation

Muslim; ethnic Albanian nationalism. Date of Founding

Constituent groups have been active since 1995. Status

Under the terms of the agreement reached with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the NATO-led peace force was mandated to disband the KLA. In 1999 the KLA agreed officially to hand in weapons and become a legalized security force. However, after the formation of that force, the Kosovo Protection Corps, KLA elements have remained at large and beyond the control of the KLA political authorities.

Insurgent Alliances

The groups have links with militias in Albania and with ethnic Albanian insurgent groups in Macedonia, including Unikom.

Rival Insurgent Groups

KLA splinter groups have fought each other in northern Macedonia. Funding

Donations from sympathetic groups in Albania; the government also claims that there is Iranian influence within the organizations. Splinter groups in Macedonia have been identified with Balkans’ narcotics and human trafficking.

Membership and Support

Unknown, but an estimated 85 per cent of Kosovo's population are ethnic Albanians (known as Kosovars), and secession from Serbia is a popular cause.

305 _{Based on information from Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism Website, July 4, 2000}

Area of Operation

Serbian security forces have driven remaining KLA forces in Kosovo into the mountains, most of its fighters retreating to the border with Albania. KLA splinter units are almost certainly based in Albania and are active in Macedonia.

Foreign Bases and Supply Lines

The groups are believed to have links in Albania. Weaponry

KLA forces reportedly were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, explosives, artillery pieces and grenades.

Sources of Weapons

Weapons and materials for bomb-making equipment were believed to be smuggled from Albania into areas of military activity, via sympathetic Albanians in Macedonia.

Tactics and Methodology

After an ineffective terrorist campaign that concentrated on poorly protected Serbian police and civilian targets and which seemed to harm as many Kosovars as Serbs, in 1998 the group began an organized insurgency. This change in tactics threatened the balance of power in the Province and compelled the government in Belgrade to mobilize security forces to regain territory over which it had lost control.

Command Structure

The KLA was organized and led by local commanders. Leadership

Brigadier General Agim Ceku is the former KLA chief of staff, currently commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps.

Political Wing

After clandestine elections, Kosovars declared a “shadow” independent Republic of Kosovo with Ibrahim Rugova of the Democratic League of Kosovo becoming

“president.” He promoted a policy of passive resistance, which is opposed by the hardline Kosovan politician Adem Demaçi.

Level of Threat

The activity of the remaining KLA groups in Northern Macedonia remains a problem in northern Macedonia, where the successor Albanian National Army seems to be a growing force. However, there is rivalry with former guerrilla groups in the region.

Other separatist groups have emerged since the KLA officially disbanded, including the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB, q.v.), founded by

Albanian separatists from three municipalities in southern Serbia. The group, which officially renounced military activities in May 2001, claimed to have no links with the KLA.

Profile of the National Liberation Army (Ushtria Çlirimtare Kombëtare, NLA or UCK)306

Alias/Front Organization

The organization is also sometimes known by the initials UCK, for its Albanian language name, the Ushtria Çlirimtare Kombëtare. The organization is a distinct, separate entity from Yugoslavia's Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas in Kosovo Province, whose Albanian name, Ushtria Çlirimtare ë Kosoves, also yields the acronym UCK. Aims and Objectives

The declared aim of the NLA is to retain Macedonia's unified state status, but with a new constitution and international mediation over ethnic Albanian grievances. The group's critics, however, allege that the real aim of the NLA rebels is to create a “Greater Albania” or a “Greater Kosovo,” joining ethnic Albanian people from southern Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and possibly Albania.

Religious Affiliation Muslim. Date of Founding

The NLA emerged in late 2000, and has since swallowed up previous Albanian guerrilla groups in Western Macedonia, including Unikom. Various ethnic Albanian guerrillas have been active in Western Macedonia since the early 1990s.

Status

No known activity since disarmament of August 2001, but known to retain substantial support among Albanian minority population in northern Macedonia. Part of NLA’s structure merged into Coordinating Council of Albanians in Macedonia, founded to implement the 2001 Framework Agreement for Albanian rights in Macedonia. NLA leader Ali Ahmeti heads that council.

Insurgent Alliances

NLA has welcomed former Unikom members as well as other ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia. It is allied to the remnants of the KLA (q.v.) in Kosovo and the UCPMB (q.v.) in southern Serbia.

306 _{Based on information from Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism Website, July 3, 2001}

Rival Insurgent Groups

There is evidence of Macedonian militia activity, from groups that include the Inner Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO). Fighting reported in northern Macedonia between NLA and Albanian National Army forces, March 2002. Funding

The NLA received assistance from allied rebel groups and organizations in Albania and from Kosovo Province.

Membership and Support

Membership included several hundred active members, some of whom are former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas.

Area of Operation

The NLA operated in western Macedonia. Guerrillas also used ruined Ottoman forts in Mount Baltepe, and the Sar mountains.

Foreign Bases and Supply Lines

The NLA had bases in Albania and in Kosovo Province. Weaponry

The NLA's weapons included Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, explosives, and grenades.

Sources of Weapons

The NLA received its weapons from Albania and Kosovo Province. Tactics and Methodology

The organization's members engaged in sporadic clashes and hit-and-run ambushes against Macedonian security forces.

Command Structure Unknown. Leadership

The political leader is Ali Ahmeti, a native Macedonian, who was instrumental in the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) while living in exile in Switzerland. He is also a veteran of the war in Kosovo. Fazli Veliu, a well-known ethnic Albanian

nationalist, was an important founder of NLA who is participating in the Coordinating Council.

Political Wing

Folded into Coordinating Council of Albanians in Macedonia, under Ahmeti. Level of Threat

Prior to the 2001 accord, the group was a small and not significant threat, but its political impact could be far greater than its military effectiveness. Most ethnic Albanians in Macedonia

(between 25 and 40 percent of the population) harbor grievances against the government, and given the volatility of the region, even relatively small actors and events can have a huge impact.

Profile of the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac (UCPMB)307

Alias/Front Organization N/A

Aims and Objectives

The UCPMB sought the secession of three districts in southern Serbia having large Albanian populations: Preševo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac. There are disputes as to whether the rebels wanted a “Greater Albania” or a “Greater Kosovo,” but the group did aim to create a state joining ethnic Albanian people from southern Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and possibly Albania.

Political/Religious Affiliation

Increasingly prominent Muslim influence. Date of Founding

The UCPMB emerged at the beginning of 2000, although many of its members had already fought in Kosovo.

Status

Officially renounced military action, May 2001. Insurgent Alliances

The UCPMB was allied with the remnants of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the National Liberation Army (NLA) in Macedonia, and militia groups in Albania. Rival Insurgent Groups

Rivals of the UCPMB included extremist Serbian militias.

307 _{Based on information from Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism Website, July 3, 2001}

Funding

The UCPMB raised funds via drug trafficking and organized crime from supporters in Albania and Kosovo, as well as local donations.

Membership and Support

Estimates of UCPMB membership vary, but its numbers likely ranged from several hundred to 2,000 armed members. Wider support also existed among ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia.

Area of Operation

The UCPMB operated in Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac in southern Serbia, and across the border in Kosovo, from headquarters in Mali Trnovac and rear base at

Gnjilane. Controlled Veliki Trnovac, a local center of narcotics and arms trafficking and prostitution. UCPMB activity also frequently spilled over into Western Macedonia and Albania.

Foreign Bases and Supply Lines

The UCPMB has bases in and receives supplies from Albania, Kosovo, and Western Macedonia. In the past there have been accusations that Iran, Libya, and Islamist

extremist groups such as al Qaeda also have fomented unrest in the region and provided guerrillas with funds.

Weaponry

The UCPMB fielded Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, explosives, artillery pieces, grenades, and landmines.

Sources of Weapons

The UCPMB received weapons from local sources, and also from sources in Albania. Tactics and Methodology

The UCPMB staged attacks on Serbian civilian and police targets. Command Structure

Unknown. Leadership

Commander was Shefket Musliu. Political Wing

Political Council for Preševo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac, headed by Januz Musliu (cousin of military commander Shefket Musliu).

Level of Threat

The group was small and not militarily strong; it is difficult to gauge its popularity with Albanians in southern Serbia, given its violent methods. The principal threat posed by the UCPMB lay in the ability of relatively small factors and actors to upset the status quo in the area, and create further instability, which might lead to wider fighting. The group claimed to have no links with the KLA.