3 May 2004, Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers
You remember how it worked in the old Cold War days? A country, often run by a dictator, would suddenly proclaim itself "anti-Communist" and the U.S. would shovel millions of dollars in foreign/military aid its way. Didn't matter whether the "anti-Communist" claim was based on fact -- just the mere use of that phrase was a guaranteed bonanza for that country's treasury (often to be siphoned off into Swiss bank accounts by the dictator).
Here's the newest wrinkle on that old con -- from a story by Konstantin Testorides of the Associated Press -- and it's a deadly one.
Follow the bouncing logic ball here. First you have to know that since breaking away from Yugoslavia in 1991, the tiny country of Macedonia has been trying mightily to ingratiate itself with the United States so as to pick up economic and political support in joining the Western camp. Not having a great deal of luck, elements in the Macedonia Interior Ministry and police hierarchy thought up a brilliant plan:
How about luring some illegal Pakistani immigrants to Macedonia, murdering them and then claiming they were "terrorists?" And so they did, in March of 2002.
Seven such Pakistani civilians were murdered, after they supposedly ambushed Macedonian police units; the "terrorists" were reported to have had all sorts of heavy ammunition in their possession. Turns out none of that was true.
Now a group of Macedonians, including the former Interior Minister, three former police commanders, two special police officers and a businessman are under arrest for complicity in the murders of the innocent Pakistanis.
A police spokeswoman said that the killings were part of an attempt to present Macedonia as participating "in the war against terrorism and demonstrate Macedonia's commitment to the war on terror."
Better get used to this sort of thing. If John Ashcroft can shred the Constitution in the name of the war on "terrorism," why not officials from small, poor countries abroad?
Macedonian Ex-Police Chief Accused
1 May 2004, Konstantin Testorides, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Police accused Macedonia's former interior minister Saturday of ordering the killings of seven Pakistani illegal immigrants he falsely accused of being terrorists to show solidarity with the U.S.-led war on terror.
Six others-- including former minister Ljube Boskovski's three top associates, two special police commandos and a businessman-- also were accused in the March 2002 killings.
Boskovski, who oversaw the police, is suspected of ordering the executions of the seven men after publicly claiming they were a terrorist group planning to attack foreign embassies in Macedonia, police spokeswoman Mirjana Konteska told The Associated Press.
"We believe that Boskovski played the crucial role in this," Konteska said.
The police charges are the first step in a legal process likely to lead to an official indictment and a trial. The suspects could face life in prison if convicted.
On Friday, authorities acknowledged that the killings were in fact executions of illegal immigrants, who were not terrorists, as part of a meticulous plot to promote the Balkan country as a player in the fight against global terrorism.
A U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity that the United States had pressed for an inquiry and was pleased there finally would be one.
Since breaking away from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia has been eager to win U.S. political and economic support in efforts to join Western organizations.
Macedonia has been a close U.S. ally in the Balkans, has staunchly supported the U.S.-led war on terrorism and has sent troops to Iraq.
The proceedings against Boskovski were made possible after a parliamentary committee stripped him of the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as a legislator in the Balkan republic's assembly.
But his lawyers claimed Saturday that the entire parliament must vote to strip him of his immunity in order for it to be valid.
Protesting what his lawyers described as procedural irregularities, Boskovski also refused to appear before an investigative judge hearing the case. Under Macedonia law, that could lead to his detention.
"Our client is not a criminal and a monster," said one of his lawyers, Stavre Dzikov. "A person's dignity should be respected."
Boskovski, who was appointed interior minister under a previous nationalist government, also was police chief in 2001 during Macedonia's six-month ethnic conflict, which erupted after ethnic Albanian rebels took up arms to fight for more rights.
Boskovski's special troops were accused of brutality during the clashes and he reportedly was being investigated by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
In March 2002, senior police officials said the seven Pakistani men were killed after ambushing a police patrol. But Konteska said the plan to set up the Pakistanis and kill them was made by top police officials a month earlier, and the men were brought to Macedonia from neighboring Bulgaria before being shot outside the capital, Skopje.
After the slaying, Boskovski accused the men of planning embassy attacks. Authorities displayed uniforms and badges bearing the insignia of the National Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian rebel force battling government troops, and alleged that the items were found in the raid.
Ethnic Albanian politicians denied any connection to the men and rejected the suggestion that the rebels were linked to militant groups planning terror attacks.
Boskovski used the deaths of the Pakistanis to suggest that the rebels sympathized with militant groups, including al-Qaida, said Ermira Mehmeti, spokeswoman for the Democratic Union for Integration, a party led by a former rebel commander.
