Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova dies

Kosovo, Jan 21 (BDNEWS) -- Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova has died after losing a battle with lung cancer, officials have announced.

Mr Rugova, 61, regarded as a moderate ethnic Albanian, came to prominence in the 1990's as leader of the ethnic Albanian resistance against Serbia.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999 when a Nato bombing campaign stopped Serb forces expelling ethnic Albanians during a separatist war.

Rugova's death will complicate talks on the future of Kosovo, observers say.

BDNEWS/1855 hrs