Nickatilynx
12-03-2004, 10:50 AM
Ex-rebel leader elected Kosovo PM
Ramush Haradinaj led the KLA in the insurgency against Serb rule
Kosovo's parliament has elected as prime minister a former rebel commander who has been questioned by UN war crimes investigators.
Ramush Haradinaj, 36, an ethnic Albanian who led the Kosovo Liberation Army, won by a vote of 72 to three.
Politicians appeared to ignore warnings that Mr Haradinaj might be indicted by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He has twice been questioned over his role in the 1998-1999 rebel insurgency against Serb rule.
It is alleged that KLA units under Mr Haradinaj's command murdered moderate Albanians and Serbs living in Kosovo, which is now under international supervision.
He denies any wrongdoing.
European Union officials had advised against appointing him prime minister. But he won parliament's approval as part of a coalition deal that secures a second term as president for Ibrahim Rugova.
Last week the United Nations Governor in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, ruled out blocking Mr Haradinaj's appointment. He said it represented "democracy at work".
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has been less supportive.
"If, in the end, the prime minister is somebody who has to go to The Hague, he may not be the most appropriate person to work towards those standards," he said last month.
Ramush Haradinaj led the KLA in the insurgency against Serb rule
Kosovo's parliament has elected as prime minister a former rebel commander who has been questioned by UN war crimes investigators.
Ramush Haradinaj, 36, an ethnic Albanian who led the Kosovo Liberation Army, won by a vote of 72 to three.
Politicians appeared to ignore warnings that Mr Haradinaj might be indicted by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He has twice been questioned over his role in the 1998-1999 rebel insurgency against Serb rule.
It is alleged that KLA units under Mr Haradinaj's command murdered moderate Albanians and Serbs living in Kosovo, which is now under international supervision.
He denies any wrongdoing.
European Union officials had advised against appointing him prime minister. But he won parliament's approval as part of a coalition deal that secures a second term as president for Ibrahim Rugova.
Last week the United Nations Governor in Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, ruled out blocking Mr Haradinaj's appointment. He said it represented "democracy at work".
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has been less supportive.
"If, in the end, the prime minister is somebody who has to go to The Hague, he may not be the most appropriate person to work towards those standards," he said last month.