'It won't be democracy'
Pro-Yugoslavia Albanian murdered in Kosovo
By Greg Elich
On Sept. 1, Albanian extremists murdered Corin Ismali at his
home in Kosovo. Ismali served as secretary for the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative, the largest of three Albanian parties in
Kosovo opposed to secession and ethnic exclusion.
Ismali was one of many Albanians in the Yugoslav government
in Kosovo prior to NATO's seizure of the province, when he held
the position of Under-Secretary for National Social Questions.
His assassination was the latest incident in a sustained
campaign to murder or expel from the province all non-Albanians
and all Albanians who favor a multiethnic society.
Ismali was with his family inside his home in Gornje Godance
when several bullets from automatic rifles ripped into him.
Another person in the household also died in the assault.
On June 16, 1999, Ismali had fled Kosovo as the U.S.- and
German-backed Kosovo Liberation Army rampaged through the
province, expelling hundreds of thousands from their homes. The
North American Solidarity with Yugoslavia Delegation, led by
Prof. Barry Lituchy of Kingsborough Community College in
Brooklyn, taped an interview with Ismali and other members of
the Kosovo Democratic Initiative in Belgrade on Aug. 9,
1999.
When asked whether he had been threatened, he replied, "Yes,
because I supported Yugoslavia and I opposed secession,"
adding, "We want to live with other ethnic groups in
Yugoslavia. We do not want to live in a country that has only
one ethnic group."
At the time of the interview, over 150,000 pro-Yugoslav
Albanians had been driven out of Kosovo by the KLA, a number
that would continue to grow. Also expelled were over 350,000
Serbs and 120,000 Roma, as well as members of all other ethnic
groups. This all took place while 40,000 troops from NATO
countries were occupying Kosovo under a United Nations
cover.
Ismali had lost everything he owned: his houses, property,
cars and furniture. A man of quiet and gentle disposition,
Ismali yearned to return home to Kosovo. That desire eventually
overrode his fear and he had recently established a new home in
the province. His devotion to a multiethnic society cost him
his life.
On the same day Ismali was murdered, bombs exploded in the
homes of two officials of the Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK). Although the LDK shares the KLA's goal of secession and
a monoethnic society, it has occasionally been the target of
violence by the KLA, which considers it a rival.
Less than two weeks earlier, KLA gunmen stopped the car of
Hamsa Hajra outside of Glogovac and pumped dozens of rounds of
automatic rifle fire into the vehicle. Hajra, a pro-Yugoslav
Albanian, was killed, along with four other members of his
family. U.S. and other NATO country troops still occupy
Kosovo.
In his 1999 interview, when Ismali was asked what the nature
of a KLA-led government would be, he responded, "It won't be
democracy."
Greg Elich was part of the North American Solidarity with
Yugoslavia Delegation in 1999.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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