KOSOVO: WHO'S WHO IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 07 PRISTINA 000015

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR, EUR/SCE, DRL, INL, AND S/WCI, NSC FOR BRAUN,
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT
FOR ACKER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV UNMIK KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: WHO'S WHO IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT

Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (U) On January 9 the Kosovo Assembly approved the
following slate of ministers of Kosovo's new goverment coming
out of the November 17, 2007 central elections (see bios at
para 2; septels report January 9 Assembly action; PM Thaci
bio; and Assembly Speaker Krasniqi bio):

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (Democratic Party of Kosovo - PDK)

Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci (PDK)

Deputy Prime Minister Rame Manaj (Democratic League of Kosovo
- LDK)

Agriculture - Minister Idriz Vehapi (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Sule Sylanaj (PDK)

Culture, Youth, and Sports - Minister Skender Hyseni (LDK)
- Deputy Minister Lirije Kajtazi
(LDK)

Economy & Finance - Minister Ahmet Shala (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Bedri Hamza (PDK)

Education, Science, and Technology - Minister Enver Hoxhaj
(PDK)
- Deputy Minister Agim Hyseni (PDK)

Energy and Mining - Minister Justina Pula-Shiroka (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Blerim Rexhaj (PDK)

Environment & Spatial Planning - Minister Mahir Yagcilar
(Kosovo Turk
Democratic Party - KDTP)
- Deputy Minister Emin Krasniqi (PDK)

Health - Minister Alush Gashi (LDK)
- Deputy Minister Mubera Mustafa (LDK)

Internal Affairs - Minister Zenum Pajaziti (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Fatmir Xhelili (PDK)

Justice - Minister Nekibe Kelmendi (LDK)
- Deputy Minister Arsim Janova (LDK)

Labor and Social Welfare - Minister Nenad Rasic (Independent
Liberal
Party - SLS)
- Deputy Minister (TBD)

Local Government - Minister Sadri Ferati (LDK)
- Deputy Minister Shpend Terdeva (LDK)

Public Services - Minister Arsim Bajrami (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Rifat Blakaj (PDK)

Returns & Communities - Minister Bojan Stankovic (SLS)
- Deputy Minister (TBD)

Trade & Industry - Minister Lutfi Zharku (LDK)
- Deputy Minister Naser Osmani (LDK)

Transport & Telecomm - Minister Fatmir Limaj (PDK)
- Deputy Minister Adem Grabovci (PDK)


2. (C) Bios of PM Thaci's cabinet:

HAJREDIN KUCI (PDK),DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Hajredin Kuci, a PDK vice president, was born on January 2,
1971, in Peja/Pec. A graduate of a police high school and an
active police officer in 1989, Kuci went on to study law at
the University of Pristina and attained a doctoral degree in
international law. He entered political prominence following
his election as PDK vice president in October 1999 and his
influence in the party has been on the rise since. In

PRISTINA 00000015 002 OF 007


conjunction with party activity, he also served as vice
rector of the University of Pristina beginning in 2000. Kuci
was elected to the Kosovo Assembly in both the 2001 and 2004
central elections. He chaired the Assembly Committee on
Education, Science and Technology during 2002-2004, and the
Assembly Committee on Rules of Procedure after the 2004
elections. He has been re-elected as vice president of the
party in all party elections since 1999, with the last time
being 2006. Kuci lost his position as vice rector in July
2005 after the intervention of the Kosovo Government to
eliminate political control over the university. Since
mid-2006 he has headed the PDK's good governance cabinet
originally headed by Thaci. Kuci unsuccessfully ran in the
2007 election for mayor of Peja/Pec. He currently teaches at
the Faculty of Law and the Department of Political Sciences
at the University of Pristina. Kuci has also played an
important coordinating role for the commission drafting
Kosovo,s first constitution and also ably chaired the ad-hoc
group dealing with Kosovo,s future symbols. Kuci is married
with two children. He is well and favorably known to USOP.
He speaks English.

RAME MANAJ (LDK),DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Rame Manaj, LDK secretary-general, was born on July 24, 1954,
in the village of Gllareve near Klina. He holds a bachelor's
degree in law from the University of Pristina. Manaj joined
the LDK in 1990 and for five years headed one of its Klina
sub-branches. As of 1995, he served as member of the Klina
branch presidency. He was elected to the municipal assembly
of Klina in the 2000 elections and was slated to head its
Judicial Affairs Committee. Following the still-unresolved
murder of the municipal president, Ismet Rraci, in April
2001, he was chosen to take over Rraci,s municipal post.
Manaj,s mayoral service and closeness to LDK Vice President
Kole Berisha led to his appointment to the LDK central
presidency in the party assembly of 2004. The newly-elected
president of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu appointed Manaj as his
political advisor in February 2006, but Manaj soon switched
to the duty of chief political advisor to the speaker of the
Kosovo Assembly, Kole Berisha, in March 2006. His steadfast
allegiance to Sejdiu and Berisha led to his election as LDK
secretary-general following its December 2006 party assembly.

SIPDIS
He was elected to the Kosovo Assembly in the 2007 general
elections.

Manaj's son, brother and three other close relatives are
among the 132 missing people from the municipality of Klina
during the 1998-99 conflict, which may explain his early
resistance to the issue of Serb returns there, though he has
subsequently been more helpful. Manaj worked as director of
administration at a local bauxite mine from 1982 to 1990.
USOP has a good relationship with Manaj. Manaj does not
speak English.

IDRIZ VEHAPI (PDK),AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Idriz Vehapi was born on December 15, 1964, in the village of
Zatriq near Rahovec. He holds a bachelor's degree in biology
from the University of Pristina. He has spent his
professional career at the University of Pristina, and is
currently assistant professor of microbiology at the
department of biology at the Faculty of Mathematical and
Natural Sciences of the University of Pristina. He also
taught at the Medical School and the Faculty of Agriculture.
Previously unengaged in politics, Vehapi made his first steps
in the political world this year when he competed in the 2007
general elections but failed to be elected to the Kosovo
Assembly. Vehapi is not known to USOP.

SKENDER HYSENI (LDK),CULTURE, YOUTH AND SPORTS

Skender Hyseni, a member of the LDK presidency and chief
political advisor to the president of Kosovo, was born on
February 15, 1955, in Podujevo. He holds a bachelor's degree
in English language and literature from the University of
Pristina. He began his political involvement in the 1990s as

PRISTINA 00000015 003 OF 007


an interpreter for the late President of Kosovo, Ibrahim
Rugova. His role evolved after the conflict into one of
special assistant/senior adviser and he became a key figure
in Rugova's inner circle, which gave him wider influence
within the party. He became a member of the LDK General
Council in 2002 but avoided public involvement in party
affairs. Following the death of former President Rugova in
January 2006, the new president of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu,
designated Hyseni as his chief political adviser. Hyseni has
more recently made efforts to advance his political profile
and following his election to the party presidency in
December 2006, he beat LDK presidency member Sabri Hamiti in
the race for the party's foreign affairs portfolio. He was
elected to the Kosovo Assembly in the 2007 general elections
and has also served as spokesman for the Unity Team. Hyseni
is married with four children. He is a key interlocutor of
USOP and speaks English.

AHMET SHALA (PDK),FINANCE AND ECONOMY

Ahmet Shala, deputy managing director of the Kosovo Trust
Agency (KTA),was born on March 27, 1961, in the village of
Pantine near Vushtrri. He holds a doctoral degree in
economics from the University of Pristina. He started his
professional career in the Trepca mining complex in 1985 and
worked there until the expulsion of Albanian workers by
Serbian authorities in 1989. Thereafter, he was executive
manager of a private company from 1990 to 1994 and also
started an English teaching school in Pristina in 1994. In
1995, he began teaching statistics and economic modeling at
the Faculty of Economics of the University of Pristina.
After the conflict, he served as economic advisor with UNMIK
Pillar IV from 1999-2000. He began his involvement with the
PDK in 2000 and as a PDK representative, served as co-head of
the Department of Trade and Industry in the joint
UNMIK-Kosovo administrative structures from 2000-2002. Shala
joined the KTA at its inception in 2002 in the capacity of
international expert (as an Albanian citizen) and has served
as deputy managing director for socially-owned enterprises.
He continues to teach statistics part-time at the Faculty of
Economics at the University of Pristina. Shala is married
with four children. Shala is well and favorably known to
USOP and has been a key USAID interlocutor. He speaks
English.

ENVER HOXHAJ (PDK),EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Enver Hoxhaj, a member of the PDK presidency, was born on
October 4, 1969, in Prizren. He holds a bachelor's degree in
history from the University of Pristina and a doctoral degree
in history from the University of Vienna. During his studies
in Austria in the late 1990s he worked as a human rights
researcher at the University of Vienna. He returned to
Kosovo after the conflict to work as regional manager of
Austria's World University Service. He emerged on the public
scene as a political commentator for the media and gradually
acquired a reputation as a political analyst. He helped
found the local think-tank the Kosovar Research and
Documentation Institute in January 2003 and served as its
executive director. During 2004 Hoxhaj attempted to create a
new political party that would unite previously independent
intellectuals, but failing to marshal enough support, he
decided to join the PDK. He was elected to the Kosovo
Assembly in the 2004 general elections and was subsequently
chosen to chair the Committee for Education, Science,
Technology, Culture, Youth and Sports. He was elected to the
PDK party presidency after its assembly of 2005 and appointed
secretary for public relations. Hoxhaj has also served as

SIPDIS
head of the department of education, science and technology
in the PDK,s good governance cabinet. Hoxhaj is well and
favorably known to USOP. He is married with two children.
He speaks English.

JUSTINA PULA-SHIROKA (PDK),ENERGY AND MINING

Justina Pula-Shiroka, birth date unknown, is an economic
expert at the PDK, and was born in Pristina. She received

PRISTINA 00000015 004 OF 007


her bachelor's degree in economics from the University of
Pristina in 1976. She holds a master's degree in economics
in the University of Zagreb and doctoral degree from the
University of Pristina. She is currently a tenured
professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of
Pristina and also chairperson of the board of the Kosovo
Civil Society Foundation, a small local NGO. She taught at
the University of Tetovo as well as at several private
universities in Kosovo. She is a regional board member for
the World Learning Star Network. Previously unengaged in
politics, Pula joined the PDK on October 7, 2007, as part of
a group of experts Thaci promoted and appointed as his
advisers. She has attended numerous trainings and
participated in various conferences in recent years.
Pula-Shiroka is married. She is not known to USOP. She
speaks English.

MAHIR YAGCILAR (KDTP),ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL PLANNING

Mahir Yagcilar, president of the Kosovo Turk Democratic Party
(KDTP),was born on May 6, 1961, in Prizren. He holds a
bachelor's degree in road transportation from the University
of Belgrade. Yagcilar became the chief representative of the
Turkish minority in Kosovo after becoming president of the
Kosovo Turk Democratic Party (KDTP) in 2000. He served in
the joint UNMIK-Kosovo Transitional Council during 2000-2001.
He was elected to the Kosovo Assembly in the 2001, 2004 and
2007 general elections. He has been the leader of the Six
Plus assembly caucus (now known as the Seven Plus in the
current Assembly),comprising the Turkish and Bosniak
minorities, from 2004-2007. In addition to his political
activity, he has served as director of the bus station in
Prizren in 2001. Yagcilar speaks Turkish, Serbian and
Albanian, and is married with two children. He is well and
favorably known to USOP. He does not speak English.

ALUSH GASHI (LDK),HEALTH

Alush Gashi, former head of the LDK caucus at the Kosovo
Assembly, was born on October 4, 1950, in the village of
Prigoda near Istog/Istok. He holds a doctoral degree in
anatomy and has taught at the Medical Faculty of the
University of Pristina. He began his political career in
1990 as a foreign affairs adviser to late President Rugova.
He became a member of the presidency only in 1998, and
assumed the party's foreign affairs portfolio. He was
elected to the Kosovo Assembly in the 2001 general elections
and served as deputy head of the LDK Assembly caucus. He
became LDK caucus head at the Kosovo Assembly after the 2004
general elections. Following the death of President Rugova
in January 2006, he was unsuccessful in securing enough
support to become president of Kosovo. After this setback,
he resorted to obstructionism, especially with regard to
efforts at passing standards-related legislation in the
Kosovo Assembly. He suffered another setback after a failed
attempt to win the party presidency with the backing of the
Rugova family as a purported uniting figure who would avert
the party's splintering into Sejdiu and Daci factions. As a
result, Gashi lost his place in the party central presidency,
did not make it even to the general council, and his
situation in the party was considered rather precarious. But
his strong showing in the 2007 general election, when he came
in sixth in the LDK list of elected assembly members,
confirmed his staying power in Kosovo politics. As a result
of his long involvement in foreign affairs, he has many
contacts in the international community. He is married with
two children. He speaks English.

ZENUN PAJAZITI (PDK),INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Zenun Pajaziti, a member of the PDK Steering Council, was
born on September 12, 1966, in the village of Policke near
Gjilan. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering
from the University of Pristina. He began his political
activity in the LDK Youth Forum where he served initially as
Gjilan branch leader. He then moved to Pristina where he
served as vice president and later president of the LDK Youth

PRISTINA 00000015 005 OF 007


Forum from 1994 to 1997. He left the LDK in March 1998 as
part of the so-called political prisoners faction to which he
belonged through his family association with several renowned
political prisoners in Kosovo. After the conflict, Pajaziti
joined the PDK and served as co-head of the Department of
Sport in the joint UNMIK-Kosovo administrative structures
from 2000-2001. Although a member of the PDK Steering
Council, he has not had a political post within the party or
outside. He was most influential in 2004, when he served in
the cabinet of former Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi as
standards coordinator and liaison with UNMIK. In this
capacity, he was well respected for his constructiveness and
cooperative attitude. Pajaziti is not well known to USOP.
He is married and speaks English.

NEKIBE KELMENDI (LDK),JUSTICE

Nekibe Kelmendi, an LDK vice president, was born on May 11,
1944, in Peja/Pec. She holds a bachelor's degree in law from
the University of Pristina. She was among the LDK founders in
1989 and a member of the first presidency. She left active
politics in 1991, but returned to the party presidency in
March 1998 and assumed the post of secretary general. At the
beginning of the NATO bombing campaign in March 1999, Serbian
security forces killed her husband Bajram Kelmendi, the most
renowned defense attorney in Kosovo, and her two sons. After
the conflict, she co-headed the Department of Justice within
the joint UNMIK-Kosovo administrative structures. This was a
somewhat stormy relationship, as Kelmendi clashed often with
UNMIK over what she perceived as interference in the justice
system. She resigned as secretary-general of LDK in April
2002, reportedly dissatisfied with late President Rugova's
attitude towards her, and resumed private practice. She was
elected to the Kosovo Assembly in both the 2001 and 2004
general elections as number three on the LDK's list of
candidates and chaired the Assembly Committee on Public
Services, Local Administration and Media. She returned to
active party politics in 2006 and was elected vice president
following the December 2006 party assembly. Kelmendi came in
third among the LDK-elected candidates to the Kosovo Assembly
in the 2007 general elections, the first time politicians
were subject to open balloting. Stoicism in the face of her
personal tragedy and her dignified demeanor has made Kelmendi
a symbol of strength and courage and a highly respected
public figure. USOP has excellent relations with Kelmendi.
She is widowed with one daughter. She does not speak
English.

NENAD RASIC (SLS),LABOR AND SOCIAL WELFARE

Nenad Rasic, a member of the Independent Liberal Party (SLS),
was born on July 8, 1973, in Pristina. He holds a bachelor's
degree in law from the University of Kragujevac, Serbia.
After the conflict he worked as translator with UNMIK and
KFOR. Previously not engaged in politics, he began his
political career in 2007 when he helped found the Independent
Liberal Party (SLS),a party that aspires to be an authentic
political voice of Kosovo Serbs. Unconfirmed reports suggest
his membership in the Serbian police structures before the
1998-1999 conflict. Apart from Serbian and English, Rasic
speaks basic Albanian and Russian. Rasic is not well known
to USOP; we have far more contact with SLS President Slobodan
Petrovic, SLS Vice President Bojan Stankovic and SLS
Secretary General Petar Miletic. Rasic is married.

SIPDIS

LUTFI ZHARKU (LDK),LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Lutfi Zharku, a member of the LDK presidency, was born on
November 19, 1962, in Kacanik. He holds a bachelor's degree
in economics from the University of Pristina. Formerly a
low-profile official of the LDK Kacanik branch, he began his
political ascension after being elected to the Kosovo
Assembly in the 2004 general elections. His service as
member of the assembly has been generally uneventful. He
sided strongly with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu during the
LDK's internal turmoil that followed the death of former
Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova and was elected to the LDK

PRISTINA 00000015 006 OF 007


presidency following the party assembly of December 2006. He
has spent most of his professional career in the cement
factory in Hani i Elezit where he recently served as director
of sales and marketing. Zharku is not well known to USOP.
He is married with three children. He speaks some English.

ARSIM BAJRAMI (PDK),PUBLIC SERVICES

Arsim Bajrami, a member of the PDK presidency, was born on
February 19, 1960, in the village of Medvec near
Lipjan/Lipljan. He holds a doctoral degree in constitutional
law and teaches at the Faculty of Law and the Department of
Political Sciences at the University of Pristina. A low-
profile LDK activist in the 1990s, he switched his political
allegiance to the insurgent KLA in 1999 and entered primetime
politics as deputy minister in the KLA-directed PGOK. He
joined the PDK in October 1999 and was elected vice president
in May 2000, reflecting the party's intention to create a
more intellectual image for the PDK. At the same time, he
served as vice rector of the University of Pristina. He
represented the PDK on the Joint Working Group that drafted
the Constitutional Framework in 2001. He was elected to the
Kosovo Assembly as number two on the PDK's list of candidates
in both the 2001 and 2004 general elections. He chaired the
Assembly Committee on Judicial, Legislative and
Constitutional Framework Matters from 2002-2004. Bajrami
resigned as party vice president and member of the Kosovo
Assembly in December 2004 to become rector of the University
of Pristina, an appointment contested as illegal by the
Kosovo Government and various international players. He was
forced to leave his post in July 2005 after the intervention
of the Kosovo Government, which overturned the previous
process of selection for University leadership, saying it had
not been legally conducted. He was reelected to the PDK
presidency in October 2005 but lost much of his influence.
He has co-chaired the sub-working group on legal and
constitutional issues within the Kosovo Unity Team, and is
now a member of the pre-constitution working group that has
been drafting a constitution for Kosovo post-independence
under the guidance of ICO and the USG. USOP is familiar with
Bajrami, who has proven troublesome and obstructionist in the
pre-constitution working group setting and earlier in his
capacity as University rector. He is a widower with two
children. He does not speak English.

BOBAN STANKOVIC (SLS),RETURNS AND COMMUNITIES

Boban Stankovic, vice president of the Independent Liberal
Party (SLS),was born on November 22, 1963, in the village of
Crkvena Vodica near Pristina. He has a degree in geodesy.
He worked in the geodetic services of the Kosovo Energy
Corporation (KEK) from 1981 to 1985, and of the Fushe
Kosove/Kosovo Polje municipality from 1991 to 1995, and then
as financial inspector in the parallel structures of the
Republic of Serbia from 1995 to 2005. During 1985-1989 he
was a professional soccer player in the soccer club Pristina.
As of July 2007, he serves as team leader in the Post and
Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK). Previously unengaged in
politics, he began his political career in 2007 when he
helped found the Independent Liberal Party (SLS),a party
that aspires to be an authentic political voice of Kosovo
Serbs, and was elected vice president. Stankovic is not well
known to USOP. He is married with two children. He speaks
Serbian, Albanian and basic English.

SADRI FERATI (LDK),TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Sadri Ferati, former chief executive officer of the Mitrovica
municipality, was born on June 10, 1957. He has a bachelor's
degree in mining and metallurgy from the University of
Pristina. His professional career has been divided between
the public and private sector: he worked as chief of the
development section in a socially-owned factory in Vushtrri
from 1985 to 1993, and as manager of a privately-owned
company from 1993 to 2004. He has been a member of the LDK
since 1990 and has served as secretary and deputy president
of the LDK branch in the Mitrovica. During the 1990s, he

PRISTINA 00000015 007 OF 007


also served as a member of the Kosovo Assembly set up by the
Kosovo Albanian parallel government. Ferati did not hold any
significant public office until 2004, when he was appointed
director of the culture center in Mitrovica. A year later,
in October 2005, he assumed the position of municipal CEO.
His growing political fortunes within the LDK led to his
candidacy for mayor of Mitrovica in the 2007 mayoral
elections, which he lost to PDK Vice President Bajram
Rexhepi. USOP has met with Ferati on occasion, but does not
have a close relationship with him. He does not speak
English.

FATMIR LIMAJ (PDK),TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

Fatmir Limaj, PDK vice president for political affairs, was
born on February 4, 1971, in the village of Banja near
Malisheva/Malisevo. He holds a bachelor's degree in law from
the University of Pristina. He started his activity in the
student movement at the University of Pristina in the early
1990s. He was recruited into the KLA in 1996 by his
university roommate and KLA founder, Rexhep Selimi. He
became known to the public in 1998 as the tough local
commander from the Malisheva area with the nom de guerre,
"Steel." He served as deputy minister of defense in the PGOK
from April 1999 to January 2000. After the conflict, he
represented the party on the Kosovo Transitional Council
(KTC) and gradually became one of the most influential party
players and a close collaborator of Thaci. He was among the
founders of the PDK in October 1999 when he became a
presidency member and public relations secretary. Limaj was
elected to the Kosovo Assembly in the 2001 general elections
and replaced Jakup Krasniqi as head of the party's assembly
caucus in March 2002 after the latter's ministerial
appointment. Limaj was indicted and arrested by the Hague
Tribunal in February 2003 because of his alleged involvement
in crimes against civilians committed at a KLA prison camp
under his command. The ICTY acquitted him of all charges in
December 2005; a subsequent appeal of this acquittal was
rejected in October 2007. Despite some dissatisfaction with
the way his party treated him while he was in The Hague, he
returned to active politics in February 2006 and assumed the
post of vice president for political affairs. Limaj also
served as deputy head of the Consultative Council for
Communities of the Unity Team during the final status
process. He has unsuccessfully competed three times for the
post of mayor of Pristina, the last time in November 2007,
when he lost to LDK's Isa Mustafa. Due to the ICTY
indictment, Limaj remains on the E.O. list and needs a waiver
for travel to the U.S. Limaj is nevertheless well known to
USOP. He is married with three children. He speaks passable
English.
KAIDANOW