James Rubin said in The Hague that he has not seen anything in Kosovo that resembles the General Staff of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
The witness said that apart from not seeing any Headquarters, he had never even seen a general.
"I have not seen anything in Kosovo that resembled a General Staff. There has been no Staff for generals in the Kosovo context. I have never seen a general. I have never seen a General Staff of generals," said James Rubin.
This statement by James Rubin came after he stated that the KLA did not even have a structure.
In addition, during his testimony, Rubin spoke about diplomat Christopher Hill's stances against the KLA.
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Rubin: KLA communiqués were attempts to make it more important
During the testimony, the witness was presented with a part of a book where Rexhep Selimi had shown that even after the zone commanders had agreed to sign the agreement, Adem Demaçi insisted on the opposite and wanted to exert influence over them. According to Selimi, this was the reason that Adem Demaçi had cooled relations with the KLA commanders.
When the “General Staff” was mentioned again, referring to what they were willing to sign, the witness said he had a problem with this term. However, he said that the person who wrote these things did not seem very credible, as he suspected that NATO would intervene.
Rubin said that it seems this person did not understand how NATO and the West work or was not informed like Thaçi was in Rambouillet.
Rubin: Demaçi did not have the US promise like Thaçi did
James Rubin said on Tuesday in The Hague that Adem Demaçi was hesitant to sign the Rambouillet agreement because he did not have the promise that the United States of America gave to Hashim Thaçi.
According to Rubin, this promise had to do with the fact that if Thaçi signed the agreement and the Serbian side did not, then they would engage in an air campaign against Serbia, reports "Oath of Justice".
"Hashim Thaçi had something that Adem Demaçi did not have - which was the promise from the US and from the military from the West, the world, from NATO. Only Hashim Thaçi had this promise in his hands that if he signed and the Serbs did not sign then the US would begin the air campaign and bombing against Serbia," he said.
He said that apart from Thaçi, no one has ever held in their hands a promise like the one made to Thaçi.
"Nobody had this promise in their hands except Hashim Thaçi. The world knew this through public articles and we had made it clear, I told you directly myself, as did Madeleine Albright, and as did Wesley Clark," he said.
The fact that Thaçi had such a promise in his hand, according to Rubin, gave him power.
Rubin: The KLA had no command structure
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Rubin continues his testimony on the third day
Witness James Rubin said in The Hague that the Kosovo Liberation Army had no command structure.
This statement by the witness came after he was asked whether in a military structure such as the KLA it would be important to know who appointed whom to hierarchical positions, reports "Oath of Justice".
"If we were to agree that there was a military structure in the KLA, yes. I object to this because I don't think there was any military structure in the KLA," the witness said.
The witness claimed that Adem Demaçi was against any agreement that did not include Kosovo's independence and that Thaçi was trying to convince him to reach the Rambouillet agreement.
Rubin on Demaç: I had the impression that he was an ideologically important man
Witness James Rubin stated before the Special Court that activist Adem Demaçi, in his opinion, was an ideologically important man.
This statement by Rubin came after judge Guénaël Mettraux asked him for an explanation about the role that Adem Demaçi had, reports "Oath of Justice".
"In my opinion, he had a role, even a big role. Therefore, I would like to call it an ideological role, not a mechanical or executive role. The impression that was created for me from all the meetings that I had in Kosovo with Kosovars, with Kosovo leaders, was that this was an ideologically important man for many years," the witness said.
Rubin added that he has never met him and has never communicated with him. He said that he is not aware of any decision made by Demaçi regarding the KLA.
He also said that he is not aware of any orders he has issued in his capacity as a member of the KLA.
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Rubin: Demaçi was Thaçi's superior
Rubin also stated that he does not know who elected Demaçi as the political representative of the KLA, nor what his duties were.
"So his views on independence were therefore very important to the people I had communications with, but not in a mechanical way," said James Rubin.
