Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister has been charged with war crimes by the United Nations tribunal and will resign his post today to answer accusations in The Hague, a government source said.
Rumours that Ramush Haradinaj was about to be charged by Hague chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte had circulated since before he became prime minister last December, raising fears of violence if Nato peacekeepers were forced to arrest him.
"Yes, the Prime Minister has been informed he has an indictment," a senior official in the Kosovo government said. "We have to face it. . . . He has informed the President (Ibrahim Rugova). He will resign today . . . and will fly to the Hague tomorrow."
A year ago, mobs of ethnic Albanians attacked Serb enclaves in the United Nations-run province in two days of rioting that killed 19 people.
Mr Haradinaj had made clear he would not defy the tribunal, but peacekeepers were taking no chances.
Germany flew in extra soldiers to bolster its peacekeeping contingent in the Nato-led KFOR mission, and Britain deployed an extra 500 troops yesterday after an urgent request from Nato.