Testimony of Briton John Duncan: KLA soldiers did not always follow political leadership

2025-09-22 11:48:57, Kosova & Bota CNA

Testimony of Briton John Duncan: KLA soldiers did not always follow political

Former British diplomat John Stewart Duncan is testifying at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, summoned by the defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, accused of war crimes.

In the late 1990s, Duncan was a political advisor to former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, who led the NATO air campaign against Serbian military targets in 1999.

At the beginning of his testimony, the defense asked him if he had also covered the work of the Kosovo Liberation Army during his activities - to which he answered 'yes'.

He said that the KLA had a heterogeneous composition and was made up of people with different experiences and motives.

"When the ethnic cleansing began to escalate, the composition of the core members was very diverse: there were former Yugoslav Army soldiers, lawyers, doctors, journalists and other people, some with abused families. The reason they took up arms varied from person to person," Duncan said.

"We called it 'the army of those who had nothing.' Their aspirations were not the same. Their motive was not the same," according to him.

Regarding the political leadership of the KLA, including Thaçi, Duncan said that he was often unable to convince soldiers about important decisions, such as disarmament.

He said that Thaçi's role did not reflect political reality and that he did not have full legitimacy in society.

"There were several political forces there like the LDK, Mr. Rugova and others," Duncan said.

Duncan said he got information about Kosovo from various sources.

"First, I would read all the information on the internet for the last 24 hours regarding Kosovo. Then I would listen to the latest news, the BBC... I would review all the diplomatic cables, the monitoring services and then I would go into meetings and brief General Clark. I would also talk to journalists and non-governmental organizations to get as much information as possible," said Duncan, as he described, as he put it, a typical working day at that time.

"My main duties were to advise military commanders on political and diplomatic aspects, but also to guide them on how to respond and their impact on the relevant operations," Duncan added.

He had also served in Albania after the fall of communism.

"This was a closed country for 46 years, and I was really interested in understanding how society worked, because that was the basis of our job as diplomats. We had to explain to our superiors how society works, what happens inside it, how the powers that be operate, what you can influence them with and why sometimes they can be difficult. That's the job of a diplomat - to explain all aspects of a society to their respective superiors," Duncan said.

According to the presiding judge, Charles Smith III, this witness's testimony will last two or three days.

The defense of Thaçi and other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), accused of war crimes, has called a total of 11 witnesses, who will appear in the coming weeks.

Two other witnesses will be presented by Jakup Krasniqi's defense, while the defense of Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selim has not yet called witnesses.

The defense's testimony began last week with former US Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin and legal advisor to the Kosovo delegation during the 1999 Rambouillet negotiations, Paul Williams.

Rubin, over the course of three days, spoke mainly about Thaçi's role in the war, which he said was political and had no authority for military decisions within the KLA.

Rubin said there is no information linking Thaçi or Krasniqi to the murder allegations.

Williams, during his testimony, also said that Thaçi represented the KLA as a credible negotiator, but did not have full authority over regional commanders.

The trial of four former KLA superiors began in 2023.

Thaçi was the political leader of the KLA before and during the 1998–1999 war, Veseli was the head of the intelligence service, Krasniqi was the spokesman, and Selimi was a member of the general staff.

The indictment against them includes charges of illegal detention, torture, murder, crimes against humanity, enforced disappearance and persecution of hundreds of civilians and persons who did not participate in the fighting.

These crimes allegedly occurred between March 1998 and September 1999 in various locations in Kosovo, but also in northern Albania.

According to the Specialist Chambers, Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi bear personal criminal responsibility for these crimes, but they all deny guilt.

Defense lawyers have stated that the KLA would not have gained the support of the international community if there had been a criminal plan, as prosecutors claim.

According to them, the indictment is based on a selective misinterpretation of events./REL