TIRANA: Kosovo President Hashim Thaci on Friday accused international justice of "rewriting history" after he was charged with war crimes linked to the 1990s conflict with Serbia by special prosecutors in The Hague.
Thaci said on Facebook he had landed in the Albanian capital Tirana and was on his way back to Kosovo where he will address his compatriots on Sunday. "Nobody can rewrite the history of Kosovo!" he said in his first reaction to the charges.
Thaci was the former political leader of the ethnic Albanian guerillas -- the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)-- which launched a rebellion against Belgrade more than 20 years ago when Kosovo was a southern province of Serbia.
On Wednesday, special prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague accused Thaci and others of war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the 1998-99 war. Until now Thaci’s only visible reaction was an update of the cover photo of his Facebook profile to feature the crest of the KLA. In a Facebook message to his "sisters, brothers and wonderful friends", Thaci, 52, said he would "address (them) on Sunday evening" from his office.