Foreign Desk Report
PRISTINA: Kosovo President Hashim Thaci resigned with immediate effect on Thursday after learning that a war crimes tribunal in The Hague had confirmed his indictment for war crimes.
Thaci told a news conference in the Kosovo capital Pristina that he felt his resignation was necessary “to protect the integrity of the state” because the judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chamber would not allow him to appear as president.
Prosecutors hold Thaci responsible for nearly 100 murders of civilians during the 1998-99 war. He denies any wrongdoing.
Local newspaper Koha Ditore said he had been driven to the EU’s Kosovo rule of law mission, EULEX, from where he was expected to travel to The Hague.
The head of Kosovo’s parliament, Vjosa Osmani, over Thaci’s duties in line with the constitution, her cabinet said.
The tribunal was set up in 2015 to handle cases of alleged crimes during a war that led to Kosovo’s independence from Serbia a decade later. The court is governed by Kosovo law but staffed by international judges and prosecutors.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said the indictment against Thaci gave hope to thousands of victims of the war “who have waited for more than two decades to find out the truth about the horrific crimes committed against them and their loved ones.”
In July, Thaci, the former senior commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrilla group, met the prosecutors in The Hague to discuss the allegations against him.
Another two Kosovo politicians who were KLA members also said that indictments for war crimes against them were confirmed.
Rexhep Selimi, a deputy in Kosovo parliament, and Kadri Veseli, the president of Thaci’s Kosovo Democratic Party, said they will also travel to The Hague.
On Wednesday, the former KLA spokesman and veteran Kosovo politician Jakup Krasniqi was arrested and transferred to The Hague on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the court said.
