German diplomat named Kosovo's new U.S. governor

German diplomat named Kosovo's new U.S. governor

By Irwin Arieff
REUTERS
7:24 a.m. August 14, 2006

UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has chosen German diplomat Joachim Ruecker to be the next U.N. administrator of Kosovo, U.N. officials said Monday.
Ruecker, who is head of the economic wing of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, would be the sixth U.N. governor in seven years for the southern Serbian province and possibly its last as the international community weighs granting it independence in a process due to be wrapped up by the end of the year.


The appointment was due to be announced later Monday, the officials said. Ruecker would succeed Soren Jessen-Petersen of Denmark, who announced his resignation in June.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999 following NATO bombing that expelled Serb forces to end what Western powers said was repression of civilians in fighting an ethnic Albanian rebel insurgency.
Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians. U.N.-brokered talks are under way to determine whether Kosovo will remain part of Serbia, as sought by the government in Belgrade, or will become independent, as Kosovo's interim administration insists.
The talks that are to determine the future status of the province began in February and are expected to continue until the end of the year.