Al Jazeera News :
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, a leader during Kosovo’s war for independence, has resigned in order to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.
Thaci announced his resignation at a news conference on Thursday.
“I resign as of today,” Thaci told reporters in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, adding his sources had informed him the Kosovo Specialist Chamber in The Hague had confirmed his indictment.
Thaci commanded fighters in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998-1999 war.
He said he was quitting “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo”.
The move came after his closest ally and the head of his Democratic Party, Kadri Veseli, also said he has been indicted and would travel to The Hague for the trial, and follows the arrest of Jakup Krasniqi, a veteran Kosovo politician and former spokesman for the KLA.
After Krasniqi’s arrest on Thursday he was transferred to The Hague, the Kosovo war crimes tribunal said in a statement, but did not give details about the indictment against him.
According to a draft indictment revealed in June, Thaci and nine others committed “nearly 100 murders” and other atrocities against “hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities” and including political opponents.
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, a leader during Kosovo’s war for independence, has resigned in order to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.
Thaci announced his resignation at a news conference on Thursday.
“I resign as of today,” Thaci told reporters in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, adding his sources had informed him the Kosovo Specialist Chamber in The Hague had confirmed his indictment.
Thaci commanded fighters in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998-1999 war.
He said he was quitting “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo”.
The move came after his closest ally and the head of his Democratic Party, Kadri Veseli, also said he has been indicted and would travel to The Hague for the trial, and follows the arrest of Jakup Krasniqi, a veteran Kosovo politician and former spokesman for the KLA.
After Krasniqi’s arrest on Thursday he was transferred to The Hague, the Kosovo war crimes tribunal said in a statement, but did not give details about the indictment against him.
According to a draft indictment revealed in June, Thaci and nine others committed “nearly 100 murders” and other atrocities against “hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities” and including political opponents.
