War in the Balkans: The Balkan Question - Key issues behind the war explained

Presumably, whatever the other feuds in the region, at least the Kosovo Albanian leaders and the leaders of Albania proper can make common cause?

Unfortunately, not. Indeed divisions among Albanians will be one of the biggest headaches facing international efforts to rebuild political stability in the region, once the war is over. The horror of the pillage, murder and ethnic cleansing within Kosovo has obscured the divisions between Kosovo Albanians and the corresponding divisions within Albania proper.

Over the past 18 months, the Kosovo crisis has polarised differences between Ibrahim Rugova, the erstwhile political leader of the province's ethnic Albanians, and the Kosovo Liberation Army, led by Hashem Thaqi. Mr Rugova believes the KLA are incompetent to lead the Kosovo Albanians. The KLA accuses Mr Rugova of failing to use the funds he controls abroad to finance the war against the Serbs.

This split extends into the tribal, unstable politics of Albania itself. The Prime Minister, Pandeli Majko and his ruling Socialist party, support the KLA, which has bases in northern Albania.