Kosovo Protection Corps
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The Kosovo Protection Corps (Albanian: Trupat Mbrojtëse të Kosovës) is a civilian emergency services organization in Kosovo. The KPC was created on September 21, 1999 through the promulgation of UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 and the agreement of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo. Its membership was initially composed largely from demilitarized veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 assigned the following tasks to the KPC:
- Provide a disaster response capability to tackle major fires,industrial accidents or toxic spills.
- Conduct search and rescue operations.
- Provide humanitarian assistance.
- Assist in de-mining.
- Contribute to rebuilding infrastructure and communities.
The Kosovo Protection Corps is authorized no role in defence, law enforcement, riot control, internal security or any other task involved in the maintenance of law and order. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General exercises direction, funding and administrative authority over the KPC. The commander of KFOR, the NATO-peacekeeping force, is in charge of exercising day-to-day supervision of the KPC.
The KPC's first commander was Lieutenant General Agim Çeku, who resigned from the organization in 2006 to become Prime Minister of Kosovo. Lieutenant General Suleijman Selimi, a former KLA military leader, is the current head of the organization. The KPC is divided into five regional "Protection Zones," each with a regional commander.
Allegations of misconduct and discipline violations have dogged the KPC since its formation. In June 2001, several senior officers in the KPC were removed for suspicion of aiding the ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia.
Kosovo's Albanian majority considers the KPC to be the nucleus of a future Army of Kosovo. But on February 2, 2007, UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, in charge of the UN-led Kosovo Future Status Process, presented a draft comprehensive status proposal to Belgrade and Pristina that called for the disbanding of the KPC within one year. A new, lightly-armed Kosovo Security Force would be established at the same time, with members of the KPC invited to join the new force.
