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FEARS are growing that the Kosovo Liberation Army is planning to disregard Sunday's demilitarisation deadline in a move that would put it on a collision course with the Nato peacekeeping force in the province.
The ethnic Albanian guerrilla force, which fought the Serbs for more than a year, is understood to be trying to avoid its disbanding despite an undertaking it gave to Nato when the Serb forces left the province in June. According to a high-ranking Nato official in Kosovo, several KLA commanders are seeking ways of keeping some of the organisation intact and squirrelling away some of its guns.
Nato has said it will allow some KLA members to form a new civil force of up to 4,000 men which will deal with national disasters, emergency help for refugees, VIP protection and ceremonial duties. It says the force, which may be known as the Kosovo Corps, could be allowed to carry guns, but members will be non-military and come under the control of the United Nations authorities in Kosovo.
In February, the KLA was promised it could become the future army of Kosovo in exchange for its backing of the Rambouillet peace accord. The peace deal eventually fell through when the Serbs refused to sign and Nato bombed Yugoslavia. Leading KLA commanders stress their keenness to work with Nato but say that the civil force can only be a part of the solution.
Commandant Remi, one of Kosovo's most respected zone commanders who is responsible for Pristina and the Lap area, said: "Only one part of the KLA will be transformed into this new force. It will be a kind of military force with light arms. We want to work with Nato on this. Eventually, however, the KLA will be transformed into the army of Kosovo with the right to demand military service."
Agim Ceku, the chief of the KLA general staff, who is carrying out negotiations over the demilitarisation, said: "The KLA will not be disarmed. There is a big difference between being disarmed and demilitarised. The KLA will be transformed."
For Nato planners the prospect of KLA commanders leading renegade factions outside the reach of a demilitarisation deal is worrying. Already thousands of guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenade launchers are in the hands of individuals.
A KLA soldier who fought near the Albanian border said: "When the fighting stopped we were told to take our guns and go home. No one will ever think about handing those guns in."