Former Kosovo PM pleads not guilty to war crimes

AMSTERDAM, Mar 1 (Reuters) Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj today pleaded not guilty to amended war crimes charges related to his time as a guerrilla leader in the war against Serb forces between 1988-99.

Haradinaj, a former regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), resigned as prime minister in 2005 to face charges at the UN tribunal of murder, rape and torture allegedly committed by forces under his command.

''I declare myself not guilty and I am very offended by these accusations,'' Haradinaj told the tribunal in The Hague.

His trial is due to begin on Monday.

Haradinaj, 38, is accused of leading a campaign to drive Serbs and Roma from their villages and for attacks on ethnic Albanian and Roma civilians the KLA saw as collaborators.

KLA forces, including a special unit called the ''Black Eagles'', killed those civilians left behind or those who refused to abandon their homes, according to the indictment.

Haradinaj had already pleaded not guilty in March 2005, but he had to resubmit his plea after the prosecution made small changes to the indictment against him.

Considered a hero by many Kosovo Albanians, Haradinaj is the most senior former KLA guerrilla to be indicted over the war against Serb forces and the first serving head of government to be indicted since former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

A former nightclub bouncer in Switzerland who was appointed prime minister in late 2004, Haradinaj was granted provisional release by the tribunal pending the start of his trial and allowed to engage in politics.

Last week in Kosovo, Haradinaj urged Kosovo Albanians not to destroy their prospects of independence from Serbia through impatience.

Two people were killed in clashes between police and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo this month and the bombing last week of three parked UN vehicles underscored fears of unrest after the unveiling of plans for Kosovo's eventual independence.

Analysts say he remains the most influential figure behind the coalition government and is credited with keeping Albanian tempers largely in check.

Two other accused will stand trial with Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj, the commander of the ''Black Eagles'', and Lahi Brahimaj, Haradinaj's uncle, who worked closely with the former prime minister within the KLA.

They also pleaded not guilty to the amended war crimes charges today.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign drove Serb forces out of the overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian province in 1999.

UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari has made proposals setting Kosovo on the path to independence but Belgrade has rejected them and Serb ally Russia, which holds a UN Security Council veto, is against any imposed solution.

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