UN reaction to indictment of former Kosovo PM

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. NATO armoured personnel vehicle on a hill overlooking city 2. NATO soldiers standing beside road 3. Close up of NATO soldier 4. Soldier sitting in armoured personnel vehicle 5. Close up of Portuguese NATO soldiers speaking on radio 6. NATO soldiers standing beside road 7. Various street scenes 8. Newspaper stand 9. Pan of newspapers on stand 10. Close up of daily paper Zeri with the headline "Ramush Haradinaj arrives in the Hague, tomorrow the hearing" 11. Close up of daily paper Koha Ditore with the headline "Ramush in The Hague" 12. Close up of photo of Ramush Haradinaj 13. Close up of daily paper Kosova Sot 14. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Vox pop, Bekim Shala: "It''s a loss for Kosovo and for all the institutions. He is innocent. He was the best commander that the Kosovo Liberation Army had. He did not deserve to go to The Hague." 15. Man buying paper at newspaper stand 16. Various street scenes 17. Exterior of United Nations headquarters 18. Close up of UN flags 19. Soren Jessen-Petersen, the top United Nations official in Kosovo walking into office 20. SOUNDBITE (English) Soren Jessen-Petersen, Top UN official in Kosovo: "Even if it is a major loss to Kosovo, that Ramush Haradinaj has stepped down and departed, at the same time, the way that Kosovo has managed this shock, has managed the anger, instability, with no break down of law and order, security, I think Kosovo has, in this difficult moment, taken a very giant step forward on its march, journey, towards status talks later this year." 22. Close up of Jessen-Petersen''s hands. 23. SOUNDBITE (English) Soren Jessen-Petersen, Top UN official in Kosovo: "I think it is a fact, I mean it is a fact, that Kosovo within 24 hours, managed an issue linked to the tribunal, an indictment, which other countries in the region are still struggling with six years after the war." 24. Soren Jessen-Petersen talking in his office STORYLINE: The voluntary surrender of Kosovo''s former prime minister to a U.N. war crimes tribunal and the absence of violence following his indictment is a huge leap forward for the disputed province, a top U.N. official said on Thursday. Soren Jessen-Petersen, in charge of administering Kosovo, told The Associated Press in an interview that Ramush Haradinaj''s surrender to the court puts pressure on war crimes suspects in other Balkan countries to do the same. "Kosovo has in this difficult moment taken a very giant step forward on its journey toward status talks later this year," he said. The talks are meant to clarify the future status of the Serbian province which has been administered by the United Nations since a 1998-99 war there between ethnic Albanians and Serb forces. Haradinaj, 36, resigned on Tuesday after being indicted for war crimes by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, and surrendered to the court on Wednesday. A former commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army, Haradinaj served as prime minister for only three months. As newspapers headlines reported Haradinaj''s arrival at The Hague, one man, Bekim Shala, said he thought the fate of the former prime minister was "a loss for Kosovo and for all the institutions". Haradinaj''s resignation sparked protests by several thousands ethnic Albanians in his home region in western Kosovo and students marched in the capital, Pristina, but there were no reports of violence. Kosovo, legally part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia, has been under U.N. and NATO control since mid-1999. The province''s status remains unresolved, with Serbs wanting it to remain part of Serbia and its ethnic Albanian majority insisting on full independence. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1a6dfeaa14c853330b9479448db95e10 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork