Welcome to Kosovo!

I just wanted to wish the new group of US CivPol Officers a warm "Welcome to Kosovo".  I hope that you enjoy your time in the mission and have what can be the "experience of a lifetime" during your time here :)
There was an interesting article on the Antiwar website today.  While not the same news source as say CNN or BBC, the information to a great detail is accurate and the message clear.  You can read the article titled "The UN's Last Winter in Kosovo" at the Antiwar.com site.

The weather is warmer again.  It was an absolutely beautiful day yesterday and this afternoon was also nice.  I was able to sit outside with several of the latest US contingent at the Peacekeepers Restaurant at AHQ this afternoon.  This is the second time that someone has recognized me from the pictures from this site...does that make me a Kosovo novelty? *hehe*  Anyways, I am happy to hear that this site is helpful to those who are coming to mission and I've added some of the information they suggested to the Mission Tips for people arriving :)

UN turns to FUND

Today around 12:20 CET around 100 demonstrators assembled at the gates of MHQ and proceeded down Police Avenue spray-painting the letters F and D around the UN on the doors of the vehicles.  "Fund" in Albanian means "the end" so I guess it is a sign that they want the UN to leave.  Most of the staff members eating along Police Avenue were stunned by the sudden demonstration and it appeared that the police were equally surprised as the entire city block was vandalized before the demonstrators were stopped.  According to the news, the leader of the "Self Determination" group Albin Kurti, whose father is reported to work for UNMIK, was in the group that was arrested by KPS (Kosovo Police Service) following the demonstration.  As far as we could see from our front-row view at the Chinese Restaurant, no one was arrested during the demonstration...we only saw KPS bring a couple vehicles full back to the station 30 minutes after it dispersed. We got some pictures of the vandalized vehicles (and maybe the vandals!) and I'll share them as soon as I download them off the camera :)

News is emerging about the group that threatened to kidnap and kill international personnel.  The group call themselves the "Independence Army of Kosovo" or UPK and have been operating in the Pec/Peje region. Reportedly, the group has stopped two KFOR vehicles and told the occupants that they should pack-up and leave or face harm.  KPS is denying that the group exists but both the UN and KFOR acknowledge the existence and have restricted travel in the Pec/Peje region.  The group appears to be organizing and uniformed in black with masks.  They have been manning illegal checkpoints and controlling passengers in western Kosovo so vehicle traffic has been restricted to certain areas as it is a serious matter.

Lights Out

I spent most of Monday night in the dark.  The weather has taken a turn to wintertime and part of the B-plant went down.  The power was off for around four hours and on for two.  My generator ran out of petrol after three and half hours and I discovered that I didn't have much left so I had to trudge down to the petrol station at 9:30pm to refill.  Then just as I was finished filling the generator and gave it one unsuccessful pull, bam!  The power came back on.  I know I said some unkind things about the power company...they probably heard and that's why the power went off an hour later :)  The officials from the power company (KEK) said that the power schedule would be four on: two off but Monday is was just off-off-off :-P  Now the problem seems to resolved or Kosovo is importing power but with the weather quickly reaching freezing points at night, I'm sure that the power cuts will become a regular thing.

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.