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"Thaci was not a military commander of the KLA", what General Clark said during his two-day testimony in The Hague

2025-11-18 17:48:12Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Wesley Clark

Wesley Clark, a retired American general, testified for two days in a row in defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, who, along with former parliamentarians Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi and former MP Rexhep Selimi, is being tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

All four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army deny the charges against them. Below is a summary of the two-day testimony of Clark, who is the final witness called by Thaçi's defense.

Clark, a four-star American general, testified before the Specialist Chambers in The Hague that Thaçi was not a military commander of the KLA and, according to him, was not responsible for this organization. Asked whether it was possible for the KLA to have had a functioning chain of command with a full hierarchy and NATO and the United States not to have known about it, Clark said briefly: “No.”

"I remember seeing Thaçi, because he was a spokesman. He was clean, well-dressed, he looked more Western than the others. He didn't look like he had been in the mountains fighting for a year or two. It was clear that he wasn't in charge there, he wasn't in command there," he said on November 17.

On the first day of testimony, Clark also said that he did not believe that Thaçi commanded the people who committed acts of violence after the liberation of Kosovo. Clark said that he had not heard of the KLA General Staff and did not have information about whether Thaçi had fought or not.

Meanwhile, on the second day of his testimony, the American general stated that the KLA did not commit ethnic cleansing. He said he remains loyal to previous statements that he saw the violence in the summer and fall of 1999 in Kosovo as a very personal conflict between neighbors, for which the KLA leaders were not responsible.

Asked about a statement in the newspaper Shekulli in 1999, in which he said there was no evidence that the KLA had carried out ethnic cleansing of Serbs, Clark said: "I have no evidence or proof that the KLA was behind this, but I have indications that prove the opposite."

Clark was referring to allegations at the time of the expulsion of some 170,000 Serbs. Clark was questioned by defense lawyers and the prosecution about a range of issues and events, including meetings with then-leader Slobodan Milosevic.

At the end of his testimony, he asked the court to allow him to give his assessment of the court case against the former KLA leaders. He reiterated his belief that Thaçi is not responsible for the acts of violence or revenge that have occurred in Kosovo.

"I have followed this judgment and I stand by my previous conviction that Hashim Thaçi is not responsible for what happened in Kosovo. He does not bear responsibility for individual acts of violence or revenge," he said.

According to Clark, the KLA was not terrorist because its members fought for their freedom. “They are not terrorists, despite the fact that when I went to meet the Serbian generals they told me they were terrorists. They are people who fought against an unjust, illegal regime that deserved to be removed and replaced,” he said.

Clark served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO from 1997 to 2000. He led the air campaign against Serbian targets, which lasted 11 weeks.

The campaign was carried out with the aim of stopping the violence of Serbian forces against Albanians in Kosovo. The bombings ceased in June 1999, the day after the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement.

It led to an end to the killings and eventually, years later, to Kosovo's independence. Clark is seen as a hero in Kosovo for his role in the country's liberation, and for this he was honored in Pristina in 2024 with a decoration. There are even streets in Kosovo named in his honor.


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