THE HAGUE: Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has been charged with 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the country’s conflict in the 1990s, a tribunal in The Hague said on Wednesday.
Wartime intelligence chief and former parliamentary speaker Kadri Veseli is also accused of war crimes, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) said, adding that the charges against both men were brought on April 24 but not revealed publicly.
“The indictment alleges that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli and the other charged suspects are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders,” the KSC said in a statement.
The accused are also facing other charges such as enforced disappearance of persons, persecution and torture, the tribunal said.
The crimes alleged in the indictment “involved hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents,” it added.
Prosecutors said they decided to make the accusations public because Thaci and Veseli had made “repeated attempts” to obstruct the KSC.
Thaci is currently preparing for a summit at the White House on Saturday with Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, and local media reports suggested he had already left for the US. His officials could not be reached to confirm the report.
The White House meeting was organized by the US special envoy to Serbia and Kosovo Richard Grenell, who has ruffled European feathers by launching a diplomatic process between the two sides parallel to decade-long talks mediated by the EU.
Grenell has denied trying to overshadow the EU-led process, saying his meeting will focus on boosting economic ties.Trump was not expected to attend the meeting.
The EU-backed tribunal was established in 2015 to investigate crimes by independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas against mainly Serb civilians during the 1998-1999 war.
The conflict pitted Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas seeking independence for the southern Serbian province of Kosovo against Serbia’s forces, who withdrew from the territory after an 11-week NATO bombing campaign.
The tribunal was created after a Council of Europe report tied former guerrilla leaders including Thaci to atrocities.
The court announced in April that it had filed charges against high-ranking Kosovo officials without naming them, but speculation was already rife that the indictment included Thaci.
Asked in April whether he would resign if he was charged, Thaci told local media he was not even thinking about it and would “respond positively” if he was asked to appear at the tribunal.
Kosovo’s outgoing prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, resigned last July after being summoned by the prosecutor for interrogation as a suspect.
Veseli said in November he had been summoned by the court to be questioned.
The KSC opened its doors in The Hague as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was winding down after almost 25 years of prosecuting crimes committed in the Balkans after Yugoslavia’s break-up in the early 1990s.
Haradinaj was acquitted of war crimes by the ICTY in 2012.
Kosovo’s independence war claimed around 13,000 lives, the majority of whom were ethnic Albanians.
The territory unilaterally declared its independence in 2008 with backing from the United States and most of the West.
But Serbia and its allies China and Russia have never accepted the move, and the status of Kosovo remains a major source of tension in the Balkans.
Kosovo president charged with war crimes over 1990s killings
https://arab.news/j5gqq
Kosovo president charged with war crimes over 1990s killings
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC): The indictment alleges that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli and the other charged suspects are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders
- Prosecutors said they decided to make the accusations public because Thaci and Veseli had made “repeated attempts” to obstruct the KSC
Sri Lanka helicopter crash kills six military personnel
- The crash took place halfway through the ceremony in Maduru Oya, nearly 300 kilometers (187 miles) east of Colombo
- Friday’s tragedy is the worst for the Air Force since a Chinese-built Y-12 aircraft crashed at Haputale in January 2020
The personnel were preparing for a grappling demonstration when their Bell 212 careened into the reservoir at the Maduru Oya national park, the official told AFP.
“There were 12 people on board, and six of them survived with minor injuries,” said the official, who declined to be named.
Those killed included four special forces commandos and two Air Force gunners.
The survivors were admitted to hospital.
The crash took place halfway through the ceremony in Maduru Oya, nearly 300 kilometers (187 miles) east of Colombo.
After a slew of parades, the chopper crew were expected to perform a “fast-roping” maneuver, showcasing their skills in descending from the helicopter while it hovered just above roof height.
After the crash, the graduation ceremony was called off and an investigation into the cause of the incident was launched.
“The Commander of the Air Force has appointed a special nine-member committee to conduct a detailed investigation,” the military said in a statement.
The Air Force operates a small fleet of Bell, Mi-17, and Mi-24 helicopters. Much of the Mi-24 attack helicopter fleet has been grounded since the end of the country’s protracted Tamil separatist war in May 2009.
Friday’s tragedy is the worst for the Air Force since a Chinese-built Y-12 aircraft crashed at Haputale in January 2020, killing all four crew members on board.
In September 2000, an Mi-17 helicopter crashed in central Sri Lanka, killing all 15 people on board — including the country’s then top Muslim political leader — making it the worst helicopter crash in the island’s history.
First mass celebrated by new Pope Leo XIV begins
VATICAN CITY: New Pope Leo XIV began celebrating his first mass as head of the Catholic Church on Friday, a private gathering for cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, according to video footage broadcast by the Vatican.
US-born Robert Francis Prevost will deliver his much-anticipated first homily as pontiff.
China, Russia vow to strengthen cooperation on international law matters, state media reports
- China, Russia vow to strengthen cooperation on international law matters, state media reports
BEIJING: China and Russia have agreed to strengthen cooperation in matters of international law, according to a joint statement released on Friday following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The two countries both stated their opposition to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported the statement as saying, and will work together to defend the United Nations’ central role in international affairs.
Kenya is ‘in total disarray’: opposition candidate Martha Karua
- A spokesman for the presidency said abductions and killings were strictly a police matter
- Karua was justice minister in the mid-2000s under late president Mwai Kibaki
NAIROBI: Martha Karua, among the first to declare a run for the Kenyan presidency in 2027, told AFP the country is in “total disarray” due to corruption, police killings and economic decline.
Karua served in government in the 2000s and, as a lawyer, has lately represented jailed opposition figures in neighboring Tanzania and Uganda.
She hopes to harness the “anger and frustration” against Kenya’s President William Ruto, which spilt onto the streets last year in mass protests against tax rises and corruption.
“We are in total disarray. It’s as if our constitution has been suspended,” she told AFP in an interview in Nairobi.
“We have abductions, arbitrary arrests... extrajudicial killings... And the police and authorities fail to take responsibility.”
Rights groups say at least 60 people were killed during the protests in June and July, and at least 89 abducted since then, with 29 still missing.
Police deny involvement, but there has been limited progress in investigating the incidents.
“Ruto was a great mistake right from the start. Those of us who have worked with him and know him, knew that he would be a disaster,” said Karua.
A spokesman for the presidency said abductions and killings were strictly a police matter.
Karua ran against Ruto in the 2022 election as the vice presidential candidate on a ticket with veteran leader Raila Odinga.
She is now part of a broad grouping of opposition figures manoeuvring for the next vote in 2027.
Her first priority would be to “plug the leakages” and bring Kenya’s debt under control, she said.
Massive borrowing has left Kenya with some $85 billion in debt, forcing it to pay more in interest payments than it does on health and education.
“Fighting corruption is the only lifeline we have,” Karua told AFP.
“(Otherwise) whatever we collect, whatever we borrow, will still be lost and we will never be able to pull Kenyans out of their misery.”
Karua was justice minister in the mid-2000s under late president Mwai Kibaki.
She said that government had led a successful push against corruption, though admitted that it “did come back toward the end.”
Karua resigned from that government in 2009, accusing some of her colleagues of opposing reforms.
Now, Karua finds herself aligned with several opposition figures that have shady reputations.
When asked, she did not deny it, but said: “The task of dislodging a government that does not play by the rules is a mammoth task. We need all hands.”
She added it was up to the public to choose “the most competent and suitable” to lead the opposition into the election.
Karua worries about unrest and rigging in 2027, however. Previous elections have been marred by extreme violence.
Ruto himself was charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over violence that erupted after the 2007 vote.
The case was eventually dropped for lack of evidence, with the court citing witness intimidation and political meddling.
Karua accused Ruto of hiring gangs of “thugs” for a recent rally in Nairobi — to “sort out anybody who appears to either boo or jeer” — which led to huge numbers of muggings and violent attacks on passers-by.
“I know it will get worse. They will use public coffers at the expense of vital services like health, education and security,” she said.
The presidency spokesman said Ruto “never hires or pays people to attend his public meetings.”
“Martha Karua and her team created a similar lie in the run up to the last election,” the spokesman said. “They lost it because they believed in their own lies. They are headed for a similar and more resounding defeat.”
But Karua claimed the president will make the upcoming election “nasty.”
“The only way we can overcome Ruto’s manipulation of the electoral system is to have a flood of votes, overwhelming numbers which no amount of manipulation can work on,” she said.
After Spain’s blackout, questions about renewable energy are back
- The European Union’s fourth-largest economy generated 56 percent of its electricity last year from renewables
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has stressed that his government would not deviate from its energy transition plans
MADRID: The massive power outage that hit the Iberian peninsula on April 28 has reignited a debate in Spain over the country’s plan to phase out its nuclear reactors as it generates more power with renewable energy.
As people wait for answers about what caused the historic power cut, which abruptly disrupted tens of millions of lives, some are questioning the wisdom of decommissioning nuclear reactors that provide a stable, if controversial, form of energy compared to renewables, whose output can be intermittent.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has rejected such criticism, asking for patience while the government investigates what caused the grid’s disconnection. He said that his government would not “deviate a single millimeter” from its energy transition plans.
Here’s what to know about the energy debate:
What is nuclear power and why is it controversial?
Nuclear power is a zero-carbon energy source formed from nuclear fission, when the nuclei of atoms are split into two or several parts, releasing energy.
It accounts for about 10 percent of electricity generation worldwide, according to the International Energy Association.
Many countries consider nuclear power critical to reaching their net-zero goals. But while nuclear reactors do not emit planet-warming greenhouse gases like gas- or coal-fired power plants, they produce radioactive waste that even advanced economies have struggled to dispose.
Why does Spain want to decommission its nuclear reactors?
Spain generated nearly 57 percent of its electricity in 2024 from renewable energy sources like wind, hydropower and solar, according to Red Eléctrica, the country’s grid operator. About 20 percent came from nuclear power plants.
In 2019, Sánchez’s government approved a plan to decommission the country’s remaining nuclear reactors between 2027 and 2035 as it expands its share of renewable energy even further. The country aims to generate 81 percent of its electricity by 2030 from renewable sources.
Sánchez on Wednesday said that the four nuclear facilities that were online the day of the blackout did not help re-power the grid.
Batteries and other methods help regulate changes in electricity supply from wind and solar.
Why is Spain’s renewables push being questioned now?
While the cause of the sudden outage on April 28 is still unknown, the event has raised questions about the technical challenges facing electricity grids running on high levels of solar and wind.
Solar and wind provided roughly 70 percent of the electricity on the grid moments before Spain lost 15 gigawatts of electricity — about 60 percent of its supply — in just five seconds.
Electricity grids were designed for a different era, according to Gilles Thonet, deputy secretary general of the International Electrotechnical Commission, an industry group.
“Traditionally, power flowed in one direction: from large coal, gas or nuclear plants to homes and businesses,” Thonet said. “These plants provided not only electricity, but also stability. Their spinning turbines acted like shock absorbers, smoothing out fluctuations in supply and demand.”
In the days following the blackout, Google searches in Spain for “nuclear” spiked, according to data from Google Trends.
Spain’s nuclear lobby group Foro Nuclear said this week that the government should rethink its plan to decommission its nuclear reactors after the outage. Ignacio Araluce, its president, said the nuclear plants online before the outage “provide firmness and stability.”
Would more nuclear power have prevented a blackout?
Others say it is too soon to draw conclusions about what role nuclear energy should play.
“We do not know the cause of the oscillations,” said Pedro Fresco, director general of Avaesen, an association of renewable energy and clean technology firms in Valencia. “Therefore, we do not know what would have allowed them to be controlled.”
Spain’s grid operator last week narrowed down the source of the outage to two separate incidents in which substations in southwestern Spain failed.
Environment Minister Sara Aagesen said earlier this week that the grid had initially withstood another power generation outage in southern Spain 19 seconds before the blackout.
Sánchez in his speech to Parliament said there was “no empirical evidence” to show that more nuclear power on the grid could have prevented a blackout or allowed the country to get back online faster. In fact, the four nuclear facilities online on April 28 before the blackout were taken offline after the outage as part of emergency protocol to avoid overheating.
He said that nuclear energy “has not been shown to be an effective solution in situations like what we experienced on April 28,” and called the debate surrounding his government’s nuclear phase-out plan “a gigantic manipulation.”
Gas and hydropower, as well as electricity transfers from Morocco and France, were used to get the country’s grid back online.
