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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Judge Antonio Cassese of Italy, the first president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, will leave the U.N. court by February to resume teaching at Florence University, the tribunal said Wednesday.
Cassese is the third prominent figure to leave the court. Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour of Canada is leaving next week, and the tribunal's current president, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald of the United States, plans to leave in October.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council read to reporters Wednesday, McDonald praised Cassese for his ``distinguished service'' and ``critical leadership.''
``The United Nations has been most fortunate to have the benefit of Judge Cassese's extensive knowledge of international law,'' she said. ``He will be sorely missed.''
Cassese hasn't explained why he decided to leave only midway through his current four-year term. McDonald also hasn't detailed her reasons for leaving. Arbour is resigning to take a seat on the Canadian Supreme Court, and will be succeeded next week by Carla del Ponte, Switzerland's former federal prosecutor.
Cassese was elected as the tribunal's first president in 1993, shortly after the Security Council established the court to bring to justice those suspected of atrocities in the wars that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
He served a second term as president until McDonald took over in 1997, then took up a seat as presiding judge in one of the court's three trial chambers.
The tribunal said a successor would be appointed to serve out the remainder of his current term, which runs through Nov. 17, 2001.