[Urata]

Death of Kosovo's President Leaves Vacuum
faqja e dyte

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he believed Rugova's death "will not disrupt this process," and his envoy appointed to oversee the difficult status talks, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, said he hoped they would soon resume.

"I'm certain that President Rugova would have liked to see that we will proceed with the status negotiations," Ahtisaari said in Helsinki. "I also express the hope that the situation will remain calm."


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "the people of Kosovo have lost a great leader."

"President Rugova led his people through challenging times and earned the world's respect for his advocacy of democracy and peace," she said. "The United States will continue to work with all the people of Kosovo to build a society based upon the principles of democracy, human rights and inter-ethnic tolerance that President Rugova valued so deeply."

French President Jacques Chirac urged those involved in the talks to continue in Rugova's "spirit of realism, tolerance and dialogue."

Kosovo's main leaders made a joint statement with the province's U.N. administrator, Soren Jessen-Petersen, attempting to assuage fears about the future.

"Together with the people (of Kosovo) we are united in our determination to see Kosovo continue on its path toward a peaceful and prosperous future," said the statement read by Jessen-Petersen.
However, the Serbian government expressed anxiety that Rugova's successor would not share his commitment to nonviolence. The Serbian government representative for Kosovo, Sandra Raskovic-Ivic, said from Belgrade that other Kosovo Albanian leaders had been involved in attacks against the province's Serb minority.

"I do not trust them very much" she said. "I am worried if someone from that echelon takes his place, somebody who would incite unrest and violence to achieve independence."

Nexhat Daci, the head of Kosovo's assembly, likely will serve as acting president. While greeting mourners at Rugova's residence, he pledged the province will "not lose its drive and its calm."

"Kosovo is in deep mourning," said Daci, sitting in a chair next to the one usually reserved for Rugova.
Rugova's death leaves ethnic Albanians grappling with possible succession battles.

No other Kosovo politician has been held in such high regard. He won international respect through his peaceful opposition to Serb dominance, in contrast to other Kosovo Albanians now in positions of leadership, who were part of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

The party he created, the Democratic League of Kosovo, is fraught with divisions that could be exacerbated by his death. The party currently is in a coalition with the smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, led by Ramush Haradinaj, a former rebel commander indicted for war crimes by a U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands.

EDHE BOTA PO E DIN HUMBJEN E TIJ FIZIKE...
ZOT SHPETOJE/RUAJE KOSOVEN...!


Rugova is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.