Albanian Economic Tribune
UNITED NATIONS - The UN administrator for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, is the victim of a campaign of character assassination orchestrated by Belgrade, UN chief Kofi Annan said.http://www.centraleurope.com/frames/frames.php3?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.albaniannews.com%2Fprivateadn%2F1999%2F12%2F25%2Fpage22.htm"The Secretary-General views these allegations as a malicious and transparent attempt at character assassination which has no basis and deserve no attention," Annan said in a statement released by UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Thursday.
Annan "reaffirms his total confidence in Dr. Kouchner and commends the extraordinary efforts he has undertaken to create a just and civil society in Kosovo under difficult and demanding conditions."
Kouchner has been in charge of the United Nations civil administration of the war-torn since July 2, with the goal of helping to establish democratically elected institutions.
A Yugoslav-controlled court covering Kosovo on Wednesday called for a genocide inquiry against Kouchner, and news media in Yugoslavia have accused him of wanting to steer Kosovo toward independence.
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