[NYC-L] NATO welcomes Albania/Ramush aquitted.

[Jeton Ademaj]

NATO Welcomes Albania and Croatia to Alliance

(Members vote to delay decisions on Macedonia, Georgia, Ukraine) (532)

By David I. McKeeby
Staff Writer

Washington -- Leaders from NATO's 26 member states unanimously welcomed
 Albania and Croatia into the trans-Atlantic alliance, a move that
 President Bush says will further the cause of freedom and security in
 Europe.

"Both these nations have demonstrated the ability and the willingness
 to provide strong and enduring contributions to NATO," Bush said.
  "Albania and Croatia are ready for the responsibility NATO brings, and they
 will make outstanding members of this alliance."

Bush's remarks followed an April 3 meeting of the North Atlantic
 Council, NATO's principal decision-making body.  The council also pledged to
 strengthen the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and
 expressed support for a U.S. partnership with the Czech Republic and Poland to
 develop a Europe-based limited missile defense system.

As new members, Croatia and Albania have graduated from the Membership
 Action Plan (MAP) -- a multiyear process of intensive engagement to
 help aspiring members complete the necessary political, economic and
 military reforms before applying for membership in the alliance's community
 of democracies.

MACEDONIA MEMBERSHIP ON HOLD

Membership for Macedonia, a third MAP candidate, was put on hold
 because of a long-running dispute with NATO member Greece, which objects to
 the Balkan state's sharing the name of one of its northern regions.

Bush expressed disappointment with the decision, but called on member
 nations to intensify engagement with Macedonia to help it continue its
 preparations for future membership.

"Macedonia has made difficult reforms at home.  It is making major
 contributions to NATO missions abroad.  The name issue needs to be resolved
 quickly, so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as
 possible," Bush said during the 2008 summit in Bucharest, Romania.

U.N. envoy Matt Nimetz, a former U.S. diplomat, currently is working to
 find a compromise between Athens and Skopje on the issue.  Agreement
 on membership by the North Atlantic Council is made by consensus, and
 Greece objected to the Republic of Macedonia joining at this time.

GEORGIA, UKRAINE HAVE FUTURE WITH NATO

The council also opted to defer a decision on a path toward future
 membership for Georgia and Ukraine until December, after further talks with
 both governments.

"NATO welcomes Ukraine and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for
 membership in NATO. We agree these countries will become members of NATO,"
 National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told journalists, quoting the
 council's statement.  "I think it's clear from this language that these
 two countries, in the view of NATO, are heading for membership."

"I think this can never be a question of 'whether.' The 'whether' is
 not questionable," agreed NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
 April 2.  "If these nations fulfill the criteria, and if they want to
 enter through NATO's open door, I think that door should be open."

The council also voted to upgrade its partnerships with
 Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, both of which are interested in becoming future MAP
 states, adding that the alliance is open to offering the same to
 Serbia, at its government's request.

"As we invite new members today, we're also clear that the progress of
 enlargement will continue," Bush said.

(USINFO is a product of the Bureau of International Information
 Programs, U.S. Department of State.  Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)***********************************************************************************http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/world/europe/04kosovo.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=sloginApril 4, 2008Former Leader in Kosovo Acquitted of 
War Crimes By MARLISE 
SIMONS
PARIS — The United 
Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Thursday acquitted a former 
commander of the rebel Kosovo 
Liberation Army of all charges of war crimes in a decision that could 
inflame anti-Kosovo 
sentiment in Serbia just weeks after Kosovo unilaterally declared 
independence.
The commander, Ramush 
Haradinaj, who also briefly served as prime minister of Kosovo three years 
ago, was found not guilty of murder, persecution, rape and torture of Kosovo 
Serb civilians. The crimes were said to have been carried out by men under his 
command in 1998, when the rebels fought to free their largely ethnic Albanian 
region from Serbian rule.
Another rebel commander, Idriz Balaj, was also acquitted, while a third 
defendant, Lahi Brahimaj, was sentenced to six years in prison for torture and 
cruel treatment of prisoners.
The men who were acquitted may return home as early as Friday, and they are 
expected to be given a hero’s welcome. But in court, in summarizing their 
verdict, the judges said that the case presented had many flaws. They cited 
vague evidence and widespread fear among witnesses, suggesting that the full 
version of events had not been told.
The complete text of the judgment was not available, but in their summary, 
the judges gave much weight to the fear and the evident intimidation of 
witnesses. Lawyers said that in no other case before the tribunal had witness 
intimidation been so widespread. 
The judges said that they had serious difficulties in getting many of almost 
100 witnesses to testify freely. They said that they had to permit 34 witnesses 
to hide their identities from the public, that 18 were subpoenaed because they 
refused to testify and that others said they dared not talk once they were in 
court.
The case against Mr. Haradinaj was fraught with difficulties from the start. 
Western diplomats tried to dissuade Carla 
Del Ponte, who was the chief prosecutor, from indicting Mr. Haradinaj, 
arguing that he was a respected political leader who played an important role in 
stabilizing Kosovo.
Within the prosecutor’s office, some lawyers also had warned that the case 
against Mr. Haradinaj was weak because it would be hard to link him to the 
crimes. 
Prosecutors complained repeatedly about pressure on the witnesses, saying 
that those most afraid were former rebel fighters who had been expected to 
testify as insiders. At least three designated witnesses were killed before the 
trial, prosecutors said.
In November, the trial ground to a halt when the defense lawyers for all 
three accused unexpectedly announced that they would not call any witnesses 
because they considered the prosecution case so weak.
For Serbs, the acquittal of two of the former rebel commanders, whose forces 
were backed and supported by the West, was likely to be viewed as one more 
insult. 
Kosovo has long been portrayed as a victim of Serbia. Only one other case at 
the tribunal has focused on the abuses and killings by fighters of the Kosovo 
Liberation Army. Human rights groups have documented numerous killings and 
instances of mistreatment of those not siding with the rebels.
Oliver Ivanovic, who represents Kosovo Serbs, told the FoNet news agency in 
Belgrade that the acquittals would make it even more difficult to demand that 
the Serbian government arrest Ratko 
Mladic and Radovan 
Karadzic, wartime Bosnian Serb leaders who remain fugitives.
Serbs will now see the tribunal as even more of a political, rather than a 
legal, institution, Mr. Ivanovic said. He added, “It will be now very difficult 
to convince any Serb that this is not an anti-Serb tribunal.”
In Thursday’s ruling, Mr. Brahimaj was sentenced to six years for the abuse 
of prisoners detained in a camp where he was in charge. It said that he had 
personally participated in beatings and torture.
Mr. Brahimaj, who has already served three years, is likely to be freed in a 
year if he gets the usual reduction for good behavior that is common in European 
countries where he may serve his time.
After Mr. Haradinaj surrendered to the court, in 2005, he was allowed to 
return to Kosovo to await his trial. Much to the frustration of Ms. Del Ponte, 
he was treated favorably when the court permitted him to play a limited 
political role at home, a privilege granted to no other detainee.
It was not clear if prosecutors would 
appeal. 
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company 

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