Former American diplomat Christopher Hill, while giving his testimony at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSCC) in The Hague on Tuesday, said that someone had told him that Xhavit Haliti was at a high level and someone was friends with important people in the KLA.
Currently, questions about the fifth defense testimony of former president Hashim Thaçi are being posed by prosecutor James Pace, who told him that he has planned about five hours for Hill's testimony in The Hague.
Former American diplomat Christopher Hill said that the first meeting with the Kosovo Liberation Army, specifically with Xhavit Haliti, took place in the Albanian capital, Tirana.
"I had been told by some people that he was at a very high level. Someone had told me that he was friends with important people in the KLA. I wasn't sure who was right, but he was the one who represented the desire to pursue the proposed leads," Hill said.
The SPO was interested in the communications and meetings that Richard Holbrooke and Hill himself had with Hajdin Abazi, who had been appointed chief of the KLA general staff in the public information sector at the request of Kadri Veseli.
Hill said he has not followed all the personnel changes within the KLA, but his interest was in finding a group of people within to speak up and gain support for the autonomy agreement.
"My job was to work to convey the views of the US government and work based on the instructions with Washington to reach an agreement on autonomy. I have not followed all the personnel changes within the KLA. My interest in the KLA has been only to find and establish a group of people who could speak to a wider group in order to support the agreement on autonomy," he said.
Christopher Hill, who was the United States special representative for Kosovo during the war, began his testimony in The Hague yesterday, and is the fifth witness called by Hashim Thaçi's defense, which is represented by lawyer Luka Misetic.
We recall that Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi have been in detention since November 2020. The former KLA leaders are accused of alleged war crimes, to which they have pleaded not guilty. /Kp/
