Mali
Denies It
Recognized
Kosovo, As
Thaci Claimed,
What Next?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 24 --
On August
21, Inner
City Press reported
that Mali had
recognized
Kosovo, and
noted that
"the
fact that Mali
just had a
coup d'etat,
and doesn't
control the
northern half
of the
country, was
not
mentioned."
On August 24,
Inner City
Press was sent
a report that
"the Malian
presidency
would wish to
inform both
the national
and
international
community that
the president
has not yet
signed any
document
recognizing
the Republic
of Kosovo and
reserves the
right to take
appropriate
measures to
identify and
punish the
authors of the
false
document."
But it was
Kosovo's
Hashim Thaci
who said it,
on August 21,
offering
"thanks... to
the Republic
of Mali for
the recent
decision to
recognize
Kosovo." Video
here,
Minute 44:30.
So now what
Thaci said in
the UN
Security
Council about
Mali's
recognition
has been
contradicted
by Mali. What
next?
On August
21,
Inner City
Press ran back
from the day's
UN noon
briefing to
try to ask
Prime Minister
Hashim Thaci
for the
specifics of
the Malian
recognition.
But
Thaci at the
stakeout
wasn't
answering in
English, and
there was no
translation,
nor Press
question
taken.
Back
in May 2010,
incoming
President of
the General
Assembly Vuk
Jeremic as
foreign
minister of
Serbia praised
pre-coup Mali
for NOT
recognizing
Kosovo, saying
"it is not
easy to
support
sovereignty
and
territorial
integrity of
Serbia
nowadays. It
takes
autonomy,
principle and
courage to do
so, and Mali
definitely has
that."
Now,
after the
coup, beyond
Thaci, Deputy
Prime Minister
of Kosovo
Behgjet
Pacolli has
bragged of
recognition.
Now what?
In January
2011, US state
media Radio
Free Europe
broadcast that
Guinea-Bissau
had recognized
Kosovo,
calling it the
74th
recognition.
Then in September
2011 it was
reported that
Guinea-Bissau
and Oman
rescinded
recognition.
Which is it?
No questions
were taken.
Watch this
site.
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