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A new chance for Kosovo |
The New York Times
Thursday, March 10, 2005
| The
indictment of a prime minister on war crimes charges hardly seems
like good news, but for troubled and bloodied Kosovo, that's what it
is, or at least should be. When Ramush Haradinaj, who had been prime
minister of the provincial government for only about three months,
resigned on Tuesday after being informed of his indictment by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, it gave
the majority Albanians of Kosovo a new chance to show they deserve
independence.
Choosing Haradinaj in the first place was one
of several distressing signs that the Kosovo Albanians were not yet
ready for running their own country, which would require them to
guarantee the rights and security of the Serbian minority. Less than
a year ago, Albanians went on a rampage that left 19 Serbs dead and
900 wounded.
Haradinaj has been accused by the Serbs of
committing atrocities in the Decani region of western Kosovo when he
was a commander there of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the guerrilla
army that battled Serbian forces in the late 1990s. Haradinaj has
denied any wrongdoing, but KLA fighters were reported to be
responsible for killing Serbs and Albanians suspected of
collaborating with Serbian rule.
An international review this
summer is supposed to determine whether Kosovo has met the standards
of governance and interethnic harmony that would justify granting it
independence under a timetable set by the Security Council. It's
been clear lately that Kosovo's leaders have failed the test. But
the Kosovo Albanians could take a big step toward countering that
impression by choosing a new prime minister who is not tainted by
his actions during the battles with the Serbs and who could serve as
a moderating, uniting influence in the divided
province.
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