KOSOVO: Thousands of Kosovo Albanians braved freezing weather yesterday to bid farewell to President Ibrahim Rugova, amid speculation over who would now spearhead the province's drive for independence from Serbia.
Close friends of the veteran leader, who died on Saturday of lung cancer at the age of 61, carried his coffin from his villa and placed it in the back of a black Jeep, which joined a convoy of similar cars that drove slowly through the regional capital, Pristina.
Mr Rugova's face looked down from billboards onto the icy streets of the city, where mourners watched the cortege drive to the parliament building, and saw the coffin carried inside to an ornate marble hall, hung with the flags of the United Nations, Albania, and a banner for Kosovo designed by the late writer and academic himself.
Mr Rugova's wife, daughter and two sons stood close by as dignitaries filed past the coffin, which was guarded by four Kosovo Albanian soldiers.
Outside, police barred cars from the centre of Pristina to help throngs of mourners reach parliament.
Officials from the UN and US were among those to sign the book of condolences, for a man who was dubbed the "Gandhi of the Balkans" for more than 15 years of non-violent resistance to Serb control of the overwhelmingly Albanian region.
They were joined in paying respects by the main candidates to succeed Mr Rugova as president and leader of the Kosovo Albanian delegation in talks on the province's final status, which will now begin next month after initially being set for tomorrow.
The early favourite is Nexhat Daci, an ally of Mr Rugova who, as parliamentary speaker, has taken over as acting president until parliament elects a new leader.
His main rivals are Hashim Thaci, former head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and now opposition leader; Veton Surroi, a journalist turned media magnate who heads a moderate political party; and former activist and current prime minister, Bajram Kosumi.
Many people in Serbia and some western diplomats fear the battle of succession could reopen rifts in Kosovo's political elite that Mr Rugova had recently closed, and warn that the next president is unlikely to share his predecessor's loathing for violence.
Mr Rugova lost support during the 1998-99 conflict between KLA fighters and Belgrade's security forces, for stubbornly advocating passive resistance while Serb troops were killing ethnic Albanian guerrillas and civilians.
But he quickly regained the political ascendancy after Nato bombing ended the war, and reached an understanding with the former rebels in the year before his death.
That thaw was highlighted yesterday by reports that Mr Rugova would be buried on Thursday in Pristina's so-called Martyrs' Graveyard, which gained its name as the resting place for KLA guerrillas.
But analysts fear that bonds forged by Mr Rugova could quickly fray without him.
"With him gone, we are through with the politics of the 1990s," said political commentator Dukagjin Gorani.
"The political struggle will increase - the fight among political parties in Kosovo will go to another level."
