Late Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova (file photo)

    BELGRADE, Jan. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, who had been suffering from lung cancer, died on Saturday at the age of 61, his spokesman said.

    "The president died shortly before midday in his residence surrounded by his family," said Muhamet Hamiti.

    The president had been a chain-smoker until he was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2005 and had been undergoing treatment at his residence in Pristina.

    The Sorbonne-educated literature professor had been at the forefront of ethnic Albanians' struggle for independence from Serbia since the early 1990s, when he started leading a non-violent movement against the policies of Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia.

    Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999.

    His death comes just days before the United Nations is due to start negotiations to decide whether Kosovo will get independence or remain part of Serbia-Monetnegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

    Rugova, who was also at the helm of the Kosovo negotiating team,has no clear successor before his death. Enditem