That stand pits the 28-year-old Remi, who joined the KLA six years ago, against some of his hard-line colleagues, who refuse NATO’s demand to demobilize. Yet Remi’s exploits in the field give him more credibility than other rebels. He commanded Lab, one of seven KLA zones in Kosovo; although isolated and surrounded by enemy Serbs in the mountainous northeastern part of the province, Remi and several hundred guerrillas fended off repeated attacks. At the same time they protected up to 220,000 internally displaced Kosovars. Because Remi’s men had developed an extensive series of trenches and tank traps, the Serbs were reduced to long-distance shelling. By May the attacks grew so fierce that Remi was forced to return tens of thousands of displaced Kosovars to Serb-held territory.
But if Remi represents the best of the KLA, he also reflects its weaknesses. The militia is as battered and divided as the land it wants to rule. Some KLA leaders sat out the war in Albania, which frustrated many of those fighting back home. (At one point, Remi made a radio appeal to KLA head Hashim Thaci, who was in Tirana, to “come back to Kosovo and lead his people.”) Now the leadership can’t agree on a common approach. Remi, who received a British diplomat at his villa shortly after we spoke last week, insists that KLA headquarters is working closely with NATO to ensure a stable transition of power. In peace, as in war, it’s a safe bet that Commander Remi will be in the thick of it.
