Old warrant snares Kosovo leader

Thaci is wanted for murder by Serbia

A former ethnic Albanian rebel in Kosovo who has since become a leading politician in the Serb province has been briefly detained by police in Hungary.

Hashim Thaci - the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army who now leads the Democratic Party of Kosovo - was arrested under a warrant issued by Serbia in 1997, when Slobodan Milosevic was president.

Mr Thaci was freed after the top United Nations official in Kosovo, Michael Steiner, spoke with officials in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and Serbia.

He then left for Paris, where he was due to speak at a conference.

Backlash fears

Mr Thaci was detained by police immediately after he had stepped off a plane from Kosovo, as computer records showed that he was wanted for murder by the Serbian police.

The BBC's Nicholas Wood in Kosovo says what was surprising about their request was that it was issued by the government of former President Milosevic.

Mr Milosevic is currently on trial at the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague, accused - among other things - of committing crimes against humanity in Kosovo.

Our correspondent says the arrests of the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army rang alarm bells among UN officials who help administer the province.

He says the prospect of seeing Mr Thaci extradited to Belgrade would most likely have provoked a major backlash among Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

After consultations between Mr Steiner and officials in Hungary and Serbia that is exactly what happened and Mr Thaci continued his trip to Paris.