[ALBSA-Info] {QIKSH «ALBEUROPA»} PRESS: Kouchner to quit UN post in Kosovo in three weeks (Guardian, November 29, 2000)

[Wolfgang Plarre]

http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,404233,00.html

Kouchner to quit UN post in Kosovo in three weeks 

Nicholas Wood in Pristina 
Wednesday November 29, 2000 

The head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, has told UN
secretary general, Kofi Annan, that he plans to leave his job in less
than three weeks, western diplomatic sources in New York say. 
    Dr Kouchner passed the message to Mr Annan on Monday through the
undersecretary general in charge of peace-keeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno,
according to a report by a diplomatic mission to the UN. 
    It said his resignation was effective from December 15. 
    Dr Kouchner, who had told colleagues that he planned to leave by
Christmas, previously said that he would stay until a replacement was
found. 
    He told journalists earlier this month that he had already told Mr
Annan of his wish to leave Kosovo. "I always said I will be free, but I
don't want to resign or corner anyone." 
    The spokeswoman for the UN mission in Kosovo, Claire Trevena,
maintained that Dr Kouchner did not yet know when he was going. 
    "He feels after the [recent municipal] elections was a good stage to
talk about leaving. He has said he won't go until his successor is
named." 
    Dr Kouchner's departure may come as a disappointment to the
province's majority Albanian population. 
    In recent weeks he has argued strenuously in the face of
international opposition that the municipal elections in October should
be followed by elections for a provincial government next spring. 
    Speculation about a successor has been rife for months. The former
Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown was seen as strong possibility,
but UN aides say that, opposed by the US, he has out himself out of the
running. 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2000


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