Kosovo Update

ICTY decided to allow Haradinaj to participate in politics while awaiting trial.  He was previously restricted from giving public statements or participate in the leadership of his political party (AAK - Alliance for the Future of Kosovo).  The chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, immediately protested the ICTY decision to allow Haradinaj to participate in politics while awaiting trial and ICTY temporarily reversed the decision.  Should the decision be reinstated, Haradinaj would be allowed to be involved in the political process and make public statements under the supervision of UNMIK.  The Hague court gave UNMIK the task of determining if Haradinaj's involvement was beneficial and granted the responsibility of allowing or refusing his activities on a case-by-case basis
This decision comes at an interesting time because the Kosovo parliament (at least the Albanian part) has started working on a draft for independence.  Aside from this, there is a group in Kosovo that have stated that unless Kosovo is granted independence by tomorrow (15-October) that they will kill nine innocent UNMIK civilians.  Now that leads to another interesting occurrence...today we received notice that our movement is restricted in certain regions during the nighttime and then another announcement this afternoon that we can request a security escort to our residences.  Coincidence???

In other news, a Turkish politician was killed in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday.  There isn't much information right now but if I find out more, I'll update :)  Also a Serbian special police member, Dejan Demirovic, was extradited from Canada to Serbia to face war crimes charges.  He is charged with the murders of 14 Albanian civilians near Podujevo in 1999.  He has been living in Ontario for the past four years but will now stand trial in Serbia.

Winter is on its way.  Every one is getting ready with firewood and pulling the dustcovers off their heaters.  The temperature has dropped down into the mid-teens Celsius (55-60�F) and this morning it started raining.  I've ordered my five meters of firewood, discovering that I paid about 100E more than I should have last year!  I'll probably be working on stacking it behind the house this weekend if anyone wants to help *hehe*

5th Annual CITS Road Rally

We held our 5th Annual CITS Road Rally today.  The weather took a turn for the cold with overcast skies and a strong chilling wind but everyone seemed to be in good spirits in the morning despite the cold.  I'm proud to report that only one team got lost this year and only for 15 minutes :)  They fortunately realized that they had made a wrong left turn and went back to the point where they should have made a right turn.  We had 10 teams competing for the champion position this year.
The route took the teams from Pristina through some Serbian villages (Uglare) to Shtime.  From Shtime, we went into the mountains where they are excavating granite and came out near Ferizaj.  From Rerizaj, we took the teams up to the top of another mountain to the Hollywood Restaurant.  I will share the pictures in my Kosovo Photo Album as always :)

President Ibrahim Rugova

News has emerged this month that President Ibrahim Rugova has lung cancer.  He was diagnosed at an American military hospital in Germany earlier this month.  Reportedly, the cancer has only attacked one lung so far but he is visibly weaker.  He has stated that he will not resign from the position of President because he wishes to see Kosovo through to independence from Serbia.  However, he has turned over some of the day-to-day functions to his successor in the LDK party, Nexhat Daci.  Whether or not Rugova will be able to live to see the realization of the Albanian dream to have an independent Albanian state of Kosovo will partly be determined later next month when the report on standards is presented to the UN Security Council by the special representative to the Secretary-General Kai Eide.  There are some fears that Rugova's departure from politics will severely hamper Kosovo's bid for independence because he seems to be the bridge that unites his LDK party that is bitterly divided.  So we will have to wait and see if Rugova can continue his battle against the cancer that is attacking his body and the international politics that may prevent his dream of unconditional independence.

Scrambled Eggs???

There is was a protest today by the "Self Determination" group and they tossed eggs at the entrance of MHQ.  Security was droning on and on this morning that we should avoid the area...guess that means I should have packed it up for lunch and gone home for a nap?!  Yeah, I wish!  The weather is definitely nap weather...cold & rainy.  It is hard to be enthusiastic about waking up in the morning after two weeks of glorious sunshine in Egypt :)  But se la vie...what can I do?
This past weekend, four Serbs from Gracanica were arrested for war crimes committed in 1999.  Since then, the Serbs have been protesting by blocking the roads in Gracanica.  While annoying, it does a good job of making a statement because the main route to Gjilane is through Gracanica and when the road is blocked, the alternate way takes about twice as long to travel.  The Serbs say that they will continue the roadblocks until the arrestees are released.

Drive-by Shootings

This past Saturday night, two Serbs were killed in a drive-by shooting in Strpce.  Another two were injured.  There is a current of nervousness passing through the offices in the UN because it was almost the same sort of incidents that set-off the deadly riots in March 2004.

Certain Smell in the Air

There comes a certain time in the year when the farmers in Kosovo begin to burn the fields.  It is a strange sight where I live to go out on your balcony and see the night illuminated with the fierce orangish-red color of fire.  Last week the fields behind my house were burning so I had to keep the doors and windows closed on that side of the house.  The scent is not the most pleasant and while I can't remember ever seeing the ranchers burn the fields in the US, I suppose there is a certain chemical benefit to having the ash fertilize the soil.  Actually, I imagine that burning fields is prohibited in most places because of the air pollution it produces.  For a few weeks, the clean air I so love where I live will be hazy and thick with the scent of burning crops.
I drove a colleague to Prizren yesterday to the German KFOR hospital.  A trip that should take 1 1/2 hours took 2 1/2 hours due to overloaded trucks and three traffic accidents on our side of the road.  The area between Shtime and Prizren is mountainous and the road winds quite a bit...the impatient drivers cannot handle being stuck on a one-lane road behind a slow moving truck so driving can be dangerous when they attempt to overtake.  Seeing beyond a curve isn't a necessity to some of the drivers...I guess they imagine anyone coming the other way will stop for them if they see them coming...not realizing that it takes time to slow a vehicle!

Bucket o' Fun

It's that time of year again...bucket shower days in the dog days of summer.  I actually couldn't even get a good bucket shower this morning at home and had to shower in the bathrooms at work.  I think the cleaning ladies got a kick out of that and I know the guys in my office do because they tease me about it :-P  But se la vie, when the farmers near Gracanica need to irrigate their fields, I have to do without water or enough pressure.  Perhaps one of these days they will separate the residential water supply from the agriculture supply...but I doubt that I will still be here when that happens.
The power is being regulated four on-two off in my area.  I heard that KEK is going to start regulating power based on the payment of individual bills.  So if you pay more than 55% of your monthly power bill, you will not have power cuts.  If you pay between 25-55%, you will have five on-one off.  If you don't pay or pay up to 25%, you will have four on- two off.  Of course, I still have never received a power bill and I again heard that Serbia is sending power to Kosovo for some of the Serbian areas...but I doubt that Gracanica is included in that list because of its location.