Kosovo President HASHIM THACI has resigned to face an indictment from a war crimes court in The Hague, a dramatic downfall for a man who has loomed over the former Serbian province for more than a decade.

The 52-year-old said he would step down to “protect the integrity” of the presidency after the court confirmed an indictment against him dating back to the 1990s conflict with Serbia, when THACI was political chief of Kosovo’s rebel army.

“I will cooperate closely with justice, I believe in truth, reconciliation and the future of our country and society,” he said at a press conference in the capital Pristina.

THACI, a former premier who has been president since 2016, has long insisted on his innocence over a war that many Kosovars consider a “just” struggle for their independence from Serbian oppression.

Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanian population suffered heavily during the conflict that claimed 13,000 lives and ended only after a NATO bombing forced Serb troops to withdraw from the province.