[news] Ibrahim Rugova dies

[ANTIC.org-SNN]

Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova dies Rugova was a chain-smoker Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova has died after losing a battle with lung cancer, officials have announced. Mr Rugova, 61, regarded as a moderate ethnic Albanian, came to prominence in the 1990s as leader of the ethnic Albanian resistance against Serbia. Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999 when a Nato bombing campaign stopped Serb forces expelling ethnic Albanians during a separatist war. Rugova's death will complicate talks on the future of Kosovo, observers say. "He carried his battle with cancer with great dignity and courage until his last breath," his spokesman Muhamet Hamiti told Associated Press. "The president died shortly before midday in his residence surrounded by his family." Chemotherapy Rugova, a chain-smoker, was officially diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2005. He had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment at his residence in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, that left him frail and caused him to lose his hair. Obituary: Ibrahim Rugova Kosovo's future: Your views The flag at his home was lowered to half-mast on Saturday. Rugova's death comes at a crucial time, as, despite his illness, he was leading the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team in talks on the future of Kosovo, says the BBC's Matt Prodger in Belgrade. UN-mediated talks between delegations from Kosovo and Serbia are due to begin in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday. Rugova was not expected to attend. It is not clear whether the talks will go ahead. No clear successor Rugova's non-violent campaign for independence earned him high regard in the international community. When Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic revoked Kosovo's autonomy in 1989, Rugova founded the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which created its own system of hospitals, schools and taxation, boycotting the Serbian administration. It gave him "father of the nation" status among some Kosovo Albanians. But analysts say there is no clear successor in the Democratic League of Kosovo, and there could be a power struggle. Rugova's main rivals came from the paramilitary Kosovo Liberation Army that fought Serb troops. The head of parliament, Nexhat Daci, is expected to be named acting president until a new leader is chosen by parliament.