Rugova claims victory in Kosovo

Rugova seems set to have upper hand in forming a government

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova has claimed victory in Kosovo's historic election and is calling for the province to be now recognised as an independent state.

Official results are due on Monday, but Rugova said his Democratic League of Kosovo had clearly won a mandate to form a government.

"We take this opportunity once again to call for the formal recognition of the independence of Kosovo as soon as possible," Rugova said.

Exit polls also suggest that Rugova has triumphed in the province's first elections since it was brought under United Nations control.

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One non-government group monitoring the ballot -- Kosovo Action for Civic Initiatives -- told The Associated Press that its polls gave Rugova 44.7 percent of the vote.

It would mean Rugova would have to form a coalition to rule, but the party would have the upper hand in forming a government.

Former rebel leader Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo finished second with 23.7 percent, while the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo finished third with 8.3 percent of the vote, Kosovo Action said.

An estimated 10.1 percent of the vote went to a coalition of Serb parties.

There was delight among Kosovo's U.N. and NATO officials that the election had been free of violence and that it appeared that there had been a healthy turnout by Serb voters.

The U.N. now administers the province after NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a Serbian campaign led by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic against ethnic Albanians.

Kosovo legally remains part of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, but the main ethnic Albanian parties back independence.

There had been concern that Serbs would shun the poll, but officials estimated that 46 percent of Serbs voted in Kosovo itself after earlier concerns that turnout in Serb enclaves would be low.

The Center for Free Elections and Democracy, a Belgrade based non-governmental organisation also monitoring the vote, reported a surge in Serb turnout during the final hours of voting.

"Huge lines were formed in front of the polling stations where Serbs are voting," said Marko Blagojevic, spokesman for the centre.

Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, praised the peaceful conduct of Kosovo's poll, saying it marked a "decisive step in the development of democracy."

He called on elected leaders to stick to the U.N. security council resolution 1244, which allows autonomy for the predominantly ethnic Albanian province but no independence from Serb-dominant Yugoslavia.

"I call on these leaders to exercise their new authority with wisdom and responsibilty and to adhere strictly to the constitutional framework and to U.N Security Council Resolution 1244," Solana said in a statement.

"It will take all their energy and creativity to ensure a prosperious and stable development of Kosovo which safeguards the interest of all communities."

In his statement Solana also welcomed the participation of all ethnic groups in the vote, including the Serbs.

"This should lay the basis for a new phase of cooperation between all ethnic groups in the provisional institutions and prepare the ground for the development of a tolerant and flourishing multiethnic society."

Voters were electing a 120-seat national assembly that will choose a president and form a provincial administration to govern alongside the U.N. officials and NATO-led peacekeepers. Serbs are guaranteed at least 10 seats in the future parliament.

Turnout was 65 percent for ethnic Albanians, said the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which was monitoring the election. In Serbia and Montenegro, 57 percent of the 200,000 Kosovo Serbs who fled after the war cast their votes, said the OSCE.

About 105,000 Serbs and other minorities had registered to vote in Serbia and Montenegro, in addition to their 75,000 ethnic kin who were registered to cast ballots in the province.

The election had seen a campaign by international officials and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to persuade Serbs to vote amid opposition to the ballot among some Serb factions and reports of threatening phone calls and letters urging a boycott.

But Serb voters like Verica Stavric, 73, were unmoved by any potential trouble.

"We're only living for right now," she told AP after casting her ballot in the enclave of Laplje Selo. "I hope, for God's sake, it will be better."

Many Serbs have been killed in revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians since Serb forces were driven out of Kosovo after 78 days of NATO air strikes.

Rugova called the election a step toward Kosovo's "independence, freedom, democracy, prosperity and economic development."

Fred Eckhard, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the elections "should be a milestone in the development of an inclusive, prosperous and democratic Kosovo."

Hans Haekkerup, head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, visiting a polling centre in Pristina, said: "The institutions that will come out of this vote will be important for the future of Kosovo.

"This is a step toward creating some of the preconditions for finding a settlement on the final status of Kosovo, but it will take some time yet."