Kosovo Albanians yesterday began five days of mourning and the search for a new president to lead the disputed Serbian province into independence talks after Ibrahim Rugova died, leaving no clear successor.

 

Rugova's death aged 61 on Saturday of lung cancer left the 90 percent Albanian majority leaderless on the eve of direct talks with Belgrade to decide whether Kosovo becomes independent or remains part of Serbia, as Belgrade insists.

 

A charismatic and powerful figurehead, the former literature professor has no obvious replacement as president or at the helm of the Kosovo negotiating team.

 

A continuous flow of mourners filed past Rugova's hillside villa, where he died. Albanian national flags hung at half-mast across the capital.

 

He will be buried on Thursday in the Kosovo capital Pristina, delayed from Wednesday the day negotiations were due to begin at the request of his family. His body will lie in state from today in the Kosovo parliament.

 

The talks in Vienna were postponed to early February.

 

Parliament has three months to vote in a new president but Kosovo's Western backers want Rugova's party to overcome bitter factionalism and nominate a successor sooner.

 

World community urges unity

 

The world urged unity, mindful of the divisions that have plagued Kosovo's postwar politics.

 

"We express our hope that Kosovo will continue to follow the legacy of President Rugova and that the political leaders will stay united during the following period in order to face the upcoming challenges," the EU envoy in Kosovo said in a statement yesterday.

 

Legally part of Serbia, the province of 2 million people has been run by the UN since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

 

The UN Security Council gave the green light to status talks late last year, responding to growing Albanian impatience with the status quo and US warnings of fresh violence.

 

The major powers have signaled they want a decision on status within the year. Serbia says Kosovo is the cradle of the Serb nation and can never become independent.

 

But the Albanian majority has ruled out a return to Serb rule after years of repression in the 1990s, when Rugova turned the other cheek while he created a virtual underground state.

 

His policy of passive resistance was eclipsed by the guerrillas in 1998, but he bounced back after the war and was twice elected president.

 

"After Rugova begins a period of true democracy, since he left no successor," Kosovo daily Express wrote. "Now the political competition will be between equals."

 

Diplomats say Western powers will likely steer negotiations towards a form of independence, under continued international supervision for years to come.

 

(China Daily January 23, 2006)