Foto: Ramush Haradinaj leaves a prison surrounded by police officers./
By Aaron Short/NEW YORK POST: An alleged Balkan war criminal is becoming a hot-button issue in a Bronx City Council race/
Bronx Assemblyman and City Council candidate Mark Gjonaj led a demonstration last Monday at the French Embassy after France arrested former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj on Jan. 4 on a Serbian warrant issued more than a decade ago.
Serbia had indicted Haradinaj over accusations he orchestrated the kidnapping, torture and murder of Serbian civilians while he was a military leader in Kosovo during the independence conflict of 1998-1999.
Kosovo is the former southern province of Serbia, which declared independence in 2008.
But Gjonaj and many Albanian-Americans in the Bronx district he reps believe the Serbians are playing politics.
“During the war, Mr. Haradinaj worked alongside the NATO forces while millions of Albanians suffered from Serbia’s genocidal policies,” Gjonaj said.
“It is our hope that Serbia moves to remove this warrant permanently.”