An ethnic Albanian who is a hardline opponent of Kosovo's peace talks, Mr Adem Demaci, resigned yesterday as political representative of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, writes Chris Stephen.
Diplomats hope the move will increase the chances of a peace agreement being signed at new talks due to start later this month, but it came with fresh fighting in the province as Serb artillery hammered at rebel positions near the Macedonian border.
Demaci, who spent 28 of his 64 years as a political prisoner, turned down a personal plea from the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, last month for the KLA to sign a Western-backed peace plan being discussed in France.
