Former political foes reach power-sharing deal in Kosovo

"The number one commitment of this government and of all Kosovo citizens is to formalize Kosovo as an independent, democratic state," Thaci said following almost two-months-long negotiations on the new cabinet, which is expected to lead the Serbian breakaway province into unilateral declaration of independence later this year.

According to the power-sharing agreement, Thaci's party, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which won the most votes in November 17 general elections, will control seven ministries, Sejdiu's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) five, and the remaining two posts will be reserved for Serbian representatives.

Serbs, who overwhelmingly boycotted the elections, will run the social welfare and the ministry overlooking the return of refugees.

However, the joint venture between two most influential Albanian parties is widely expected to be an uneasy one, due to the bitter antagonism which marked the relations between Thaci and LDK's late founder and long-time leader Ibrahim Rugova.

The coalition between two strongest parties which dominated Kosovo's political scene in past eight years was almost unimaginable until the Rugova's death in 2006, as the late ethnic Albanian leader blamed Thaci and his Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) of "collaboration with Serbian secret services".

The rivalry, later, escalated as at the time U.S. secretary of State Madeleine Albright promoted the young rebel chief to the leader of Kosovo Albanian delegation in 1999 Rambouillet peace talks.

Following the exchange of harsh words, Thaci prevented Rugova's return to Kosovo for several months following the deployment of NATO troops and United Nations mission in 1999, and led the brutal political battle, which resulted with at least a dozen politically motivated assassinations in late 2000.

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