Former U.S. diplomat Christopher Hill said that the fact he had not heard Hashim Thaçi’s name until later on leads him to believe that Thaçi was not among the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) — though he admitted he cannot confirm this for certain.
Hill is the fifth witness called by the defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, who began testifying before the Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday.
“I don’t know whether he was one of the founding members of the KLA, and the fact that I hadn’t come across his name until later in the year suggests to me that he was not. However, I’m not in a position to confirm that,” Hill stated.
In response to questions from prosecutor James Pace, asking whether Hill knew that Thaçi was part of the KLA’s political directorate, the former U.S. diplomat said that before the Rambouillet Conference, Thaçi had indeed been described as a member of that political directorate, but he could not provide more details.
“At a certain point, he was described as a member of the political directorate. I can’t tell you exactly when this was said, but it was sometime before Rambouillet. I can’t offer further details,” Hill testified in The Hague.