PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - The U.N.'s chief Kosovo administrator, former Danish defense minister Hans Haekkerup, has resigned, independent television in the southern Yugoslav province said on Friday.
Independent RTV 21 television gave no source for its report and no reason for the resignation of Haekkerup, whose one-year mandate was due to expire in mid-January.
U.N. officials declined to comment but said a statement would be released at 1700 GMT.
However, a U.N. source said Haekkerup left U.N. headquarters in Pristina on Friday and headed for the airport after handing over his equipment. He had returned unexpectedly from holiday on Thursday.
The U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since NATO's 1999 bombing campaign to
Haekkerup replaced Frenchman Bernard Kouchner in January 2001 as the U.N.'s chief Kosovo administrator.
He played a key role in the political process leading up to Kosovo's first post-war general election last November, designed to give it substantial self-government under a U.N. umbrella.
His office drafted a U.N. blueprint for new provisional institutions paving the way for the polls and also helped persuade leaders in Belgrade to come out in favor of Serb participation in the vote.
But he was criticized by some Kosovo Albanian leaders and commentators for the way he handled the inaugural session of the new Kosovo assembly on December 10, which was marred by a walkout by the province's second largest party.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, Belgrade's main point man for Kosovo, expressed regret about Haekkerup's reported decision to step down.
A senior official of Kosovo's largest political party, the ethnic Albanian Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), expressed mixed views.