Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci 'ahead' in election

exit poll suggests the party of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is ahead in the country's first parliamentary vote since declaring unilateral independence from Serbia.

The poll gave Mr Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) 31% of the vote.

Its main rival and ex-junior coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), was second with 25%.

If the results are confirmed, Mr Thaci will need support from other parties to form a government.

The newcomer Self-Determination Party, led by student activist-turned-politician Albin Kurti, was in third place with 16%.

The ethnic Albanian majority and small Serb minority remain largely estranged in Kosovo, more than a decade after a Nato-led conflict broke Serbia's control.

Belgrade has not recognised Kosovo's independence and most Serbs were expected to boycott the elections.

The EU says the election is important for Kosovo's hopes of entry into the organisation.

During the campaign, institutionalised corruption and the dire state of Kosovo's economy consistently topped lists of voter concerns.
Mobile polls

Pre-election opinion polls had suggested the PDK would win without an outright majority, with the LDK mounting a strong challenge.
Police reported a handful of minor security incidents. Shots were fired at an empty building used by Nato peacekeepers in the Serb-majority town of Zubin Potok.

The gunmen left a threatening letter telling Serbs not to vote, said police spokesman Besim Hoti.

Because of the expected Serb boycott, the election commission set up mobile polling stations in the north.

"Due to a tense situation, the polling stations decided to end their work (in the north) at 1600 (1500 GMT). There were no incidents," electoral commission chairwoman Valdete Daka said, according to the AFP news agency.

However, turnout among Serbs living in enclaves in central Kosovo was higher than in previous elections.

"I expect prosperity," Dobrila Radenkovic, a Serb, told the Reuters news agency as she went to vote in the town of Gracanica.

"So far I have been satisfied with my party: it is clear they did a lot with limited funds and we hope for our better future here."
'Partition fears'

An early election had to be called after the LDK pulled out of Mr Thaci's government in October in a row over its then leader, Fatmir Sejdiu, who was also Kosovo's president.

After Mr Sejdiu stepped down as president, he was ousted from the LDK leadership by the mayor of Pristina, Isa Mustafa.
Map

Another party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, has been weakened because its leader, former rebel Ramush Haradinaj, is being retried by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Among Kosovo's most daunting challenges are an unemployment rate of 45% - even higher among young people - and one of the weakest economies in Europe.

While recognised by many Western countries, Kosovo is still not a member of the UN. Its ethnic Albanian majority are under pressure to show they can build peaceful relations with the Serb minority.

Serbs now only number around 120,000 out of Kosovo's population of two million.

Most of them live in enclaves guarded by Nato-led peacekeepers, and many are concentrated in the north, between the divided town of Mitrovica and the Serbian border.

Posters in Mitrovica called on Serbs to boycott the election. "No to elections in the false state of Kosovo," reads one.

The US ambassador in Kosovo, Christopher Dell, has warned that an attempt to partition the north could spark renewed ethnic violence across the region, according to a series of secret diplomatic cables released by the Wikileaks website on Thursday.
bbc.co.uk/news/

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