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UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17 (AFP) - The political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaci, campaigned here Friday for a seat for Kosovo at the United Nations.
Thaci said he was to meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during his New York visit and would try "to open the door to the presence of the Kosovo representative to the UN."
Thaci came to New York after a European tour to meet with Annan and the new US ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke.
Under ceasefire terms agreed in the final days of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, Kosovo remains part of Yugoslavia, although the KLA maintains its demand for independence.
"We'll try to find a mechanism to achieve the independence of Kosovo," Thaci told journalists here. "I want to point out that this is a process."
Thraci had harsh words for UN Kosovo administrator Bernard Kouchner, comparing him to a "king."
"What we are asking for is cooperation, we are not asking for a king," he said.
Asked if the KLA delegation will ask Annan to remove Kouchner, Thaci said: "We are not here to demand the resignation of Kouchner. We are here to expose problems."
Elaborating on the KLA's opinion of Kouchner, Kosovar "information minister" Bajram Kosumi noted that "in some ways, it must be said that Mr. Kouchner and the UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) behave like Kosovars were at their service, not like they were in Kosovo to help the people."
He accused Kouchner of taking a number of "unpleasant decisions" that have tended to "transform slowly but surely the people of Kosovo in a people dependent on the UN."
Kouchner, who is French, was appointed by Annan head of the UN administration in Kosovo on August 2.
He has been granted extended powers to administer Kosovo in order to restore peace and lay the foundations of democracy in this majority Albanian province, which was devastated by war and ethnic violence.
An agreement concluded at the end of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia provides for the KLA's mandatory demilitarization by this Sunday. The rebel army is expected to transform itself into a service corps.
US ambassodor Holbrooke praised Kouchner last week, saying that "doctor Kouchner is the right man, at the right place, at the right time."
"He has the full support of the Security Council at this time for what he is trying to do," Holbrooke said.