Former Kosovo rebel Limaj calls for unity in address to Assembly

Excerpt from report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 15 December

[Announcer] Today's Kosovo Assembly session started with an address by the former head of the PDK [Democratic Party of Kosovo] parliamentary group, Fatmir Limaj [acquitted by the Hague tribunal in November 2005 of torturing and murdering Serbian and Albanian civilians at a prison camp during the 1998-99 war].

[Reporter] After three years of absence in the Kosovo Assembly, the former deputy called for unity within the Kosovo Assembly. He added that cooperation between Albanians is not difficult and can be achieved very quickly; all that is needed is engagement, something that should be the principle of every deputy and Kosovo citizen.

[Fatmir Limaj] We should never be afraid of telling the majority population of Kosovo that Kosovo will never be happy, nor will it be democratic, if even one citizen of another ethnicity feels ignored or oppressed as a result of the majority. [Passage omitted]

Therefore we have to be the ones who carry the burden of the process of coexistence between all Kosovo citizens, regardless of ethnic or religious background. Not for one group, or one ethnicity, regardless how big or small it is, but for the good of Kosovo and its future. In the name of Kosovo and for Kosovo, we have to be ready to do everything to be able to fulfil our long-awaited ideals. Let us unify our stances, we need true unity, a unity that will produce results and all we need for this is some will to do so. The Assembly and the institutions have to be more active in fighting the indictments against former Kosovo Liberation Army [KLA] soldiers. All of Kosovo should be on their side because in this way we take the side of justice.

[Reporter] Kosovo assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci said that the people of Kosovo, political parties and the region have back in their midst a person who has proved in a dignified manner his engagement for Kosovo's freedom and who has throughout his political life spread the breath of tolerance and understanding.