Ex-rebel picked to lead Kosovo
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro -- Kosovo lawmakers yesterday elected a former rebel commander to be the prime minister even though he was recently questioned by UN war crimes investigators.
The 120-seat parliament voted 72-3 to let Ramush Haradinaj, 36, an ethnic Albanian, head the new Kosovo government. Many members abstained, mainly lawmakers for the second-largest party, the rival Democratic League of Kosovo.
The parliament also certified the victory of President Ibrahim Rugova's party in last month's general elections by reelecting him as president.
Western officials had raised concerns about the premier's post going to Haradinaj amid signs a UN war crimes tribunal might be preparing to indict him -- a development that could destabilize the province.
UN investigators recently questioned Haradinaj about his role during the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces loyal to Slobodan Milosevic, then the Yugoslav president.
The formation of the new government follows a coalition deal struck nearly two weeks ago between Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo and Haradinaj's much smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.
Rugova's party won 45 percent of last month's vote, short of the absolute majority needed to govern this UN-run province alone.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999, following a NATO air war that halted a crackdown by Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. The world body still holds ultimate authority in the province. Haradinaj came to prominence during the war as commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army in western Kosovo.
Soren Jessen-Petersen, the top UN official in Kosovo, congratulated the new leaders and called on them to make Kosovo "a better place for all its inhabitants."
"The next 12 months will be crucial in determining the future of Kosovo," he told lawmakers.
The new Kosovo government is likely to represent the province in talks aimed at resolving its final status. Negotiations may begin within months if there is progress by then in improving governance, the economy, and human rights.
