Kosovo's former PM Ramush  Haradinaj gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Pristina, 22 Apr 2008

The chief prosecutor of the United Nations war crimes tribunal has decided to appeal the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

A spokeswoman, Olga Kavran, for prosecutor Serge Brammertz says he will file the notice of intention to appeal Friday.

The tribunal, last month, acquitted Mr. Haradinaj and an associate, Idriz Balaj, of war crimes during the Kosovo conflict of the 1990s. The court sentenced a third defendant, Lahi Brahimaj, to six years in prison for cruel treatment of prisoners at a prison camp run by the ethnic Albanian guerrilla group, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Al three men held senior positions in the KLA.

Prosecutors had indicted Haradinaj on 37 counts, including involvement in the murder, persecution, rape and deportation of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo areas under his control in 1998.

They declined to say if the appeal will cover Balaj.

Mr. Haradinaj was the highest-ranking Kosovo Albanian politician to go on trial before The Hague tribunal. He stepped down as Kosovo's prime minister in 2005 after being indicted.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.