Ex-guerrilla fighter new Kosovo premier

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Ramush Haradinaj, a divisive ex-prime minister of Kosovo and a former guerrilla fighter, was nominated Thursday as the country’s new premier and tasked with creating a new Cabinet.

President Hashim Thaci said on his Facebook page that he had issued a decree to give Haradinaj, leader of the center-right Alliance for the Future of Kosovo party, “the mandate to form the new government.”

The 49-year-old Haradinaj served as prime minister before for three months from December 2004 to March 2005 before resigning to face a U.N. tribunal for his role in Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia. He is a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Haradinaj was eventually cleared twice of war crimes charges by the U.N. tribunal.

Earlier Thursday, Parliament elected a new speaker three months after the country’s June 11 election, approving Kadri Veseli of the Democratic Party of Kosovo in a 62-52 vote.

Besides running the poor country’s economy, Haradinaj will also have a tough diplomatic job because Serbia still regards him as a war criminal. Kosovo suspended EU-sponsored talks with Serbia earlier this year after Haradinaj was arrested in France on a warrant from Serbia. A French court refused to extradite him.

Haradinaj told reporters he would present a new Cabinet on Saturday at parliament, which will vote on his leadership.