US Deputy Chief of UNMIK under UN investigation

Schook, a former US general, told a press conference in Pristina he had not been officially informed of the probe by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services but learned of the allegations through questions asked of his staff on Tuesday.

He said he did not feel guilty and had no intention of resigning. "I was informed yesterday from some people I work with of the investigation opened against me... no-one from internal control has contacted me, though," he added.

"According to the information I've managed to gather, the probe pertains to my alleged aggressive behavior, unprofessional and close relationships with Energy Minister Ethem Ceku and former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and extends to personal relationships I supposedly had with some women from Kosovo and those working with the UNMIK mission", UNMIK Deputy Chief stressed.

He went on to say that "he was indeed guilty for loving his job and being fully committed to it."

"My ‘guilt' may as well stretch to the fact that I have respected people I've worked with, including Haradinaj while occupying the post of prime minister. I respected his conduct when the Hague Tribunal issued an indictment against him, since I supported the organization of elections in Kosovo at the time," Schook said.

He also said that he supported UN Special Kosovo Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's package for supervised independence for Kosovo, as he "could not tolerate anything that could prevent Kosovo from becoming a better place."

"I have made a lot of friends in Kosovo, I have made a lot of enemies in Kosovo," said Schook. He took up the U.N. position in April 2006, having served as a commander with NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia and Kosovo.

A former Kosovo Albanian rebel commander, Haradinaj was forced to resign in March 2005, after the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia indicted him on 37 counts of war crimes, ranging from rape to murder, committed during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

He was released pending trial, but critics have accused the U.N. mission in Kosovo of giving him special treatment, believing his considerable influence has helped stop Albanian hardliners from turning to violence.

Schook said he was also "guilty" of supporting an ongoing tender, controlled by Ceku's ministry, for the construction of a new power plant in Kosovo. Asked if he believed the allegations against him originated at the Hague tribunal, Schook said he did not know, but added: "I suspect there may be other agencies involved in this."

The allegations regarding Schook's relationship with Ceku are linked to the campaign for the construction of a 3.5-billion-euro (4.93-billion-dollar) power plant in Kosovo.

Also on Wednesday, Belgrade news agencies reported the Dutch police have arrested a man wanted by Serbia for crimes he allegedly committed in Kosovo as a Kosovo Liberation Army member. According to the Amsterdam police, the Serbian police issued a warrant for the arrest.

"The man is suspected of crimes which carry a potential 40-year prison term," Dutch police spokesman Rick Heers told AFP. He added that the man would soon be brought before a judge who would decide whether or not to extradite him to the Serbian authorities.

Meanwhile, Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor's Office announced that ethnic Kosovo Albanian Spelzim Delmiri, 28, from Gnjilane, was the person arrested in Holland.

The prosecutor "is interested in Delmiri, who was arrested on Tuesday on the basis of an Interpol warrant on suspicion of committing an act of terrorism during the war in Kosovo."

Delmiri was also arrested "on the bases of indications that at the time in question, as a member of the then KLA he committed war crimes against non-Albanians in the province," the statement said.

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