I am melting away slowly, but I light the way
for others."
Adem Demaci, political representative of the KLA
BEFORE
The founding fathers of the KLA were Ibrahim Rugova, the pacifist
president of the self-proclaimed "Kosovo Republic", established in
1991 - and Slobodan Milosevic, his belligerent Yugoslav counterpart.
The abysmal failure of the Gandhiesque policies of the former to
shelter his people from the recrudescently violent actions of the
latter - revived the fledging KLA outfit. Contrary to typically
shallow information in the media, the KLA has been known to have
operated in Kosovo as early as the attack on policemen in Glogovac
in May 1993. Its epiphany, in the form of magnificently uniformed
fighters, occurred only on November 28, 1997 (in the funeral of a
teacher, a victim of Serb zealousness) - but it existed long before.
Perhaps as long as the People's Movement of Kosovo, founded in 1982.
The historical and cultural roots of the conflict in Kosovo were
described elsewhere ("The Bad Blood of Kosovo"). Reading that
article is essential as this one assumes prior acquaintance with it.
Kosovo is a land of great mineral wealth and commensurate
agricultural poverty. It has always languished with decrepit
infrastructure and irrelevant industry.
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