Agim Ceku

Agim Ceku, Prime Minister, Kosovo

(BBC - 02/05/06; Balkan Investigative Reporting Network - 23/03/06; AFP, BBC - 10/03/06; Wikipedia)

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Agim Ceku was sworn in as Kosovo's prime minister on 10 March 2006, nine days after the resignation of his predecessor, Bajram Kosumi, and at a crucial time for the province's future.

A Kosovo Albanian, Ceku was born on 29 October 1960 in the town of Pec and became a career soldier. He graduated from the Belgrade military academy and joined the Yugoslav People's Army as an artillery captain.

During the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s Ceku fought on the side of the Croatian Army. He later led the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought Serb forces during the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo. Following the end of the conflict, Ceku oversaw the KLA's demobilisation and transformation into a civil emergency force, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).

With UN-led talks on Kosovo's future status already under way, Kosumi submitted his resignation on 1 March 2006 under pressure from his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. The next day, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu formally nominated Ceku, who was still serving as KPC head, as to assume the duties of the province's prime minister.

On 10 March 2006, lawmakers in Kosovo's 120-seat parliament supported Ceku's appointment as prime minister by a 65-33 vote, which automatically made him also a member of the province's negotiating team in the status talks.

Addressing lawmakers following his election, Ceku echoed the sentiments of the majority of the Kosovo Albanians, sayingstated he expected the negotiations to lead to full independence.

"We want a democratic and tolerant Kosovo," Ceku said. "The creation of the state of Kosovo is the will of its people and this government."

In an unprecedented move, he switched from the Albanian language to Serbian, urging the leaders of the Kosovo Serb to take part in political life in the province.

"You, Serbs, as all other citizens of Kosovo, do have and will have a future in democratic Kosovo," Ceku said. "Kosovo belongs to everyone and we will all together create a society which will guarantee freedom, equality, economic development for everyone regardless of their ethnicity."

Ceku is married and has three children.