To Luan Haradinaj: Words of the Soul and of the Heart

A lion figure that I would like to remember this day is Luan Haradinaj. Fire struck his eyes, although he seemed very calm. He went on duty like he was going to do a regular job; The Lion was only 23 years old when it fell to the national pedestal, but had grown so much to be one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Man is also fortunate and goes through many defeats in life. I've been very lucky to have met, I've acted and fought with many boys and men, on the way to the war for the liberation of the homeland, but I'm also heartbreaking because in those fiery streets many friends have remained on the foundations of the war becoming eternal torches of the homeland over time. A lion figure I want to remember today is Luan Haradinaj. He who was and seemed young but who was with a power that imposed honor and reflected endurance and incompatibility in every action and every action he took. I knew the lion at the time when the Kosovo Liberation Army was laying its foundation in all of Kosovo's spaces and taking shape and creating its own portrait by determining the responsibilities for the country's liberation.

He lived in a Tirana neighbourhood. The first information about The Lion was given to me by Halim Krasniqi. She was known by her family as” Student” Anyone who asked, anyone who asked, said, "Yes, that student. Even without seeing him, I had earlier recognition of the Lion through Nat Hasan, who portrayed him as one of the most prominent figures of that combat organisation being carried out in Kosovo from 1994 onward, to carry out the massification of the Liberation Army and to take steps to free the country. Even at this time when we met, The Lion, despite his stay in Tirana, he led half an illegal life. He was cautious and did not seem to be in noisy surroundings. He remembered that The Lion had previously had contact with Xhavit Halit.

And sometime in 1995, 1996, Xavit met me with The Lion and told me to go to work and work together. And from here I can say that our relationship grew stronger when Sokol Poga was working with us. With Sokol Poga we met at the same time in northern Albania in Krume, at the KLA base house of Alush Dragush, respectively. A base that The Lion and Sokoli had developed over time and that would serve with devotion throughout the war, paving the way for the entire village of Vlaha and wider in the service of the Kosovo Liberation War.

In the north, I and Sokol Poga fully understood the Lion, who was really very belligerent, with vision and longing for war. He was an authority fighter. All those men who acted with him honored him and quickly applied his duties. But he himself was a warrior who carried out his duties without wavering or second thought. He thought that from the north people were curious. They often asked: This young man who is and what he does. Perhaps it even seemed to me because at that time we were acting in total secrecy. But I know when they asked us all the time: he's a student in Tirana and he goes when he needs his own home (or his parents) and he goes back to school in school at the Faculty of Physical Culture, University of Tirana.

And he really was a student at that faculty, despite the fact that the priority was combat activity within the KLA. The lion was clear about his day - and - night work of homeland devotion. He was convinced that Albanians would support the Kosovo Liberation Army, he was convinced that the fire of war would involve Kosovo and liberation would be achieved. I am fully convinced that Lion, despite his youth, had a husband's maturity, but he also had an imposing military power, and despite his failure to study in military schools, he was seen in every word and action that he was born to be warriors and commanders of war.

With the Lion we've walked a lot at that time. There was no feasible task for him. He was very positive. He never saw things with worry. For him, however situations were to develop, there were solutions to get what was needed and do what was needed at that time.

Anything needed for logistical preparation, for shares against the police and military forces and the secret service ( The UDB) and those who helped the Serbian regime of Milosevic, for The Lion, were tasks and jobs that had to be carried out and done at the right time and without any absence despite the difficulties of that time that were too great. I don't think there was any trouble whatsoever, so that he could stop The Lion from carrying out his duties. He was very precise in his actions, very dynamic and effortless, very energetic. It was so influential that I can say that all those who dealt with him, near him or under his leadership, would make all efforts to work and act like him. They tried to look alike. He recalled that somewhere in February 1996 I met with Sokol Basota, Daut Haradinaj and Muje Krasniqi.

And at that time I learned that The Lion had Brother David: but none of them appeared before me, nor before me, nor before any that are brethren. He remembered this as one of the moments when these guys' greatness had no limit to me.

They worked together, fought together, carried out their duties together, and never showed brotherly weakness for brother, brother's love for brother, brother's care for brother. They were really the model of the warrior, the model of what rescuers should be. I treasure that truth in my soul with great love and concern because it has always seemed sacred to me. I can say without thinking that I am mistaken, that The Lion saw Kosovo freed. So he also seemed to run to carry out his homework as soon as he could see it. He did not know death, he did not think that there could be a force to stop him in his way. The fire looked down, though it seemed very quiet. He went on duty as if he was going to do a regular job. It didn't matter how big the danger was, there was no stopping for him.

He had matured his thinking, completely clarified himself, and he would be there to do what was needed without thinking about the threats of danger present. The lion knows its supply and direction duties many times, and has often made Albania's hard and dangerous road Kosovo. Roads without roads, the road behind each step, and after every step of the mountain's rock and wood, was waiting for the cold barrel of enemy rifle, which was determined not to release our conquered homeland. So he was also determined to kill and massacre any Albanian who would raise his armed hand to free the country. But we too were determined to eliminate the conqueror forever.

And the Lion was one of those that didn't stop. When it seemed that he had not yet departed, he announced that he had returned and carried out the task he had taken on himself to carry out in Kosovo. But there would come a day when The Lion and other fellow fighters would not want to stay further in the process of organizing and providing, but would leave to operate in Kosovo, aiming to create a unit that would operate on the Dukagjin terrain to expand the area where the rifles of the KLA were heard. He was with selected friends and with him his older brother Ramush, who were going to Kosovo to give as much of himself as possible to deliver him. But the enemy would be there in front of them. The warriors would be faced with a major enemy - fighting formation, which they would not want to face under those conditions.

But the situation arose so that the warriors were forced to start their struggle. They fought their several - hour war, causing significant loss to the enemy but also suffering great loss and pain for themselves. In that uneven battle, the warrior and major war commander Luan Haradinaj will fall to the front of the war to always be a life fighter.

A huge loss for the Kosovo Liberation Army, the Dukagjin area, for fellow fighters, as well as a great pain for the family, for the parents, for the brothers of all relatives. And in that battle Rafet Rama, Fehmi Ladrovci and Ramush Haradinaj will also be wounded, which except for the pain of brother would carry wounds. It could be said that battle was the first battle held at the Albanian border Kosovo by a KLA combat formation.

It can be said that The Lion and his work made the war that he so desperately wanted to see Kosovo and Albania without borders between them. That formation, which carried out that very battle, was in the form of warriors who, after the public appearance of the Kosovo Liberation Army, would become prominent leaders and leaders and some would also fall to the fronts of the war to become eternal. To reach this battle and the KLA's great war and the liberation of Kosovo, The Lion had been working and acting for years to change Kosovo's destiny and the power of the Albanian nation. I am proud to have walked through the streets of domestic activity and of fighting leagues such as Luan Haradinaj and other warriors who have done eternal works.

The lion when it fell to the national pedestal was only 23 years old, but had grown so high that it was one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The lion belonged to a family of great national values. The Haradinaj family was long known for its resistance to home and nation. Smajl Haradinaj (aja) who inspired youth with national ideals, with all of his sons, Nazim and Agron, and in general the contribution of the Haradinaj brothers to our liberation fight against Serbian barbarity, marks one of the brighter pages of our newest history, not only in Dukagjin.

The Hilmi Basca family and Rukie mother were all in service of Kosovo freedom. The lion belongs to organizing the first units in the Dukagjin freedom of war. It has been demonstrated as part of the combat event along with his brother Shkelzen and other collaborators since November 1993.

From then on, his brothers Ramush, Shkelzen, Daut, and my ideal friends, such as: Lahi Brahimaj, Agim Zeneli, Adrian Krasniqi, etc., with all his power committed to organising the freedom struggle. Luan Haradinaj belongs to that part of Kosovo men called founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. He was a leader and a man of action. Its decline remains an eternal cornerstone of the unification of Albanians in the struggle for national freedom and unity. Glory to the life and work of the Kosovo Hero, witness Luan Haradinaj!