Simon Tisdall (Guardian Utd): Possible war crimes indictments in Kosovo

From the Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Dated Wednesday January 5

War crimes indictment could push teetering Kosovo to edge
By Simon Tisdall

The possibly imminent indictment for war crimes of Kosovo's prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, threatens to provoke a new crisis in the breakaway Serbian province that was invaded by British and other forces in 1999 and remains under uneasy UN and Nato control.
Mr Haradinaj, who took office last month, is a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The Serbian government accuses him of complicity in atrocities committed in the Decani region of western Kosovo in 1998-99. Belgrade has issued an arrest warrant and is refusing to deal with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority leadership while he remains in power.

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, also has her eye on Mr Haradinaj. He was interviewed by war crimes investigators late last year. He has dismissed all the accusations as Serb lies. Now Ms Del Ponte's tribunal is about to make a decision. Its final list of indictments, possibly issued under seal, is expected this weekend.

If Mr Haradinaj is suddenly charged and carted off to The Hague the reaction in Kosovo could be explosive. If action against him is shelved because of his prominent position, analysts say that already grudging Serbian cooperation with the tribunal may be seriously jeopardised.

We should watch this with interest. The international community should strive to enforce international law.

I can think of others who ought to be prosecuted for war crimes committed unrelated to the Balkans.