Man known as 'the Ghandi of the Balkans' dies
President Ibrahim Rugova died of lung cancer today, leaving a leadership vacuum in Kosovo’s fraction-ridden political scene before crucial talks on whether the province should gain the independence that was his lifelong dream. He was 61.
International leaders appealed for calm and unity in the disputed UN-run province, while the Serb government expressed fears that Rugova’s successor might not share his commitment to nonviolence.
The much-anticipated start of the talks between ethnic Albanians and Serb officials had been scheduled for Vienna, Austria on Wednesday, but were postponed until February following the death of the man who came to embody ethnic Albanians’ aspirations for independence.
Rugova died in his residence in Pristina just before midday surrounded by his family, said his spokesman, Muhamet Hamiti.
“He carried his battle with cancer with great dignity and courage until his last breath,” Hamiti said.
The flag at Rugova’s hillside residence in Pristina was lowered to half mast and tearful staff, bodyguards and neighbours gathered outside his home. Pristina’ streets were empty, with people glued to their radios and television screens.
Rugova was often called the Gandhi of the Balkans in an allusion to the Indian leader’s epic campaign for his nation’s independence.
His death comes as the restive UN-administered province of 2 million embarks on a delicate process of negotiating a solution that its ethnic Albanian majority hopes will result in full independence. The Serb minority insists Kosovo must remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.
The province has been run by the United Nations since NATO launched a bombing campaign to end a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian rebel separatists in 1999.
“I’m certain that President Rugova would have liked to see that we will proceed with the status negotiations,” said Martti Ahtisaari, the UN envoy leading the status talks.
France’s President Jacques Chirac urged those involved in the talks to continue in Rugova’s “spirit of realism, tolerance and dialogue.”
“His departure, while talks are under way on the question of the final status, couldn’t be more tragic,” said Chirac.
Kosovo’s main leaders made a joint statement with top UN official Soren Jessen-Petersen, appearing united in an attempt to assuage fears of problems ahead.
“Together with the people (of Kosovo) we are united in our determination to see Kosovo continue on its path toward peaceful and prosperous future,” said the statement, read out by Jessen-Petersen.
However, the Serbian government expressed fears 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.”
Rugova, the chain-smoking politician whose election in 2002 made him the province’s first president since the UN took over Kosovo’s administration, was officially diagnosed with lung cancer last September.
