Former Albanian rebel commanders killed in Kosovo, Macedonia

Former Albanian rebel commanders killed in Kosovo, Macedonia

The repercussions from the war are ongoing here.  I spent most of yesterday at a Board meeting of AIM, the Association of International Missions in Prishtina.  AIM attempts to facilitate and support missionary activity in Kosovo.  Meanwhile, back home in Gjilan, Muhamed Xhemaili lost his life, killed by persons unknown.  I don't know Xhemaili, his history or his politics.  I just know another Kosovar has lost his life not knowing the difference Jesus Christ can make in their life.

Pristina/Skopje - Two former ethnic Albanian rebel commanders have been murdered in Kosovo and western Macedonia in the past 24 hours, police in Pristina and Skopje confirmed Wednesday. Muhamed Xhemaili, also known by his nom-de-guerre "Rebeli" (The Rebel), was killed in eastern Kosovos town of Gnjilane from a moving vehicle. No other details were immediately available. Xhemaili, a hard-line commander of Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (UCPMB) units during the 1999-2001 insurgency in southern Serbia, was famous among his compatriots for his uncompromising stance against any kind of dialogue with Serbs. In western Macedonian town of Struga, another former UCPMB leader Nuri Mazari, or "Commander Struga" was shot dead during a bar fight. Mazari, who joined Macedonian government junior coalition partner Democratic Integrative Union (BDI) in 2002, was previously involved in Albanian uprisings in Kosovo, southern Serbia and Macedonia. Dozens of former UCK commanders have been killed in past several years because of personal disputes, blood feuds, political differences and a brutal struggle for dominance between local crime gangs.