[Zero Cool]

9. IDRIZ (Halil) BALAJ, alias "Toger"
Born on August 8th, 1952, in the village of Iglarevo, Municipality of Klina. He was a commander of the special KLA unit known as "Black eagles", formed by him upon the order of Ramush Haradinaj and operating within the 131st brigade of the Dukadjin operational zone, and later on as the deputy commander of the guard of the RTG KPC, with the rank of a major. He was arrested by UNMIK police on August 11th, 2002. Together with Ramush Haradinaj, he was involved in the murder of about 40 persons, whose bodies were dumped into the canal of the Bistrica river. Additionally, he is responsible for the crimes committed in the region of the above-mentioned operational zone. Together with Daut and Bujar Hardinai and Arben Ahmetaj, he led a terrorist group which carried out armed attacks on the members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs near the village of Jablanica, Municipality of Djakovica, and on the members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the YA forces in the villages of Glodjane and Donji Ratiš, Municipality of Dechani, on October 17th, 1998, and November 16th, 1999, near the village of Došinovica, Municipality of Dechani. In June 1999, he kidnapped Milorad Jovanovic, a pensioner, Djordje Kuzmanovic, a worker employed at the Public Enterprise PTT of Serbia, and Vladimir Vulevic, from Pec, who have been lost ever since. He is the organizer of the forced deportation of the population from the region of Djakovica, Pec and Dechani, and the perpetrator of the burning down of the church in the village of Gornji Ratiš. He was particularly known for his cruelty in torturing and murdering his victims, dismembering them with a tractor. He damped the remains of the corpses in the canal of the Radonjic lake. He was also known among the Albanian population as a perpetrator of the crimes against his fellowmen. In late 1998, he killed Agim Ibrahimi, a taxidriver from Djakovica. He is also responsible for the killings of Cvetko Novovic, from the village of Nabrdje, Municipality of Pec, and of his wife, and for the imprisonment of Osman Berisha and Ujkan Avduli, also from Pec, and of Vukašin Šchekic, who were kept imprisoned and physically tortured for an extended period of time. In the late 1999, he kidnapped Vesel Murishi and four other ethnic Albanians. He kept them detained in the "Dukadjin” building in Pec for some time, killed four of them while Murishi managed to escape. A number of the kidnapped persons were tortured and murdered in the village of Ruhot. Their bodies were dumped in the Beli Drim river. Xhafer Gjuka, a political functionary from Pec, was among the victims. Additionally, Balaj was publicly accused of the disappearance and murder of a number of Albanians from the region of Metohija. He is a suspected accomplice in the murder of Ismajl Hajdari, a DSK member on January 17th, 2002, in Pec. Idriz Balaj belongs to the criminal organization known as "Dukadjini", led by Ramush Haradinaj. He is one of the important organizers of the smuggling of arms from Albania to Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, along the Pec-Kula-Rožaje route. He did all this in cooperation with Ramush and Daut Haradinaj and Xhavit Haliti. He is close with the Elshani family since he cooperates with its members in illegal oil trade. On January 20th, 2001, unknown persons tried to assassinate Balaj by planting an explosive device at the his house entrance, when Idriz Balaj, his wife Teuta and a son, Sulejman, were seriously injured.