Hard-Liner to Head Rebels’ Political Wing

A prominent hard-liner and rival to ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova agreed to lead the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army’s political wing. In doing so, Adem Demaci in effect establishes himself as an alternative leader of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians, setting back U.S. efforts to unite the community behind one leader for peace talks. Rugova had announced that he had formed a delegation to begin talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on the Serbian province’s future. But Demaci’s action further splinters ethnic Albanians, divided between those who support the radical militants and those who back Rugova’s approach to a negotiated secession from Serbia.