Former guerrilla commander Agim Ceku was nominated on Thursday as Kosovo's new prime minister to succeed Bajram Kosumi.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu made the nomination based on his constitutional powers and the agreement among the ruling coalition, Sejdiu's office said in a statement.

Kosumi resigned on Wednesday, as his party Alliance for the Future of Kosovo was not satisfied with his performance and questioned his loyalty to the party.

Ceku, a 46-year-old career soldier, is the commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps. He had been a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the Kosovo war.

The Kosovo parliament is expected to vote in its regular session on March 16 about Ceku's nomination.

"If the parliament asks this from me, I am prepared to be the new Kosovo premier," Ceku told a press conference in Pristina.

Under Kosovo's constitutional framework, if Ceku fails to get majority support in the 120-seat parliament, President Sejdiu must propose a new candidate within 10 days.

The leadership change is expected to affect the ongoing process of defining Kosovo's future status.

Legally still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since mid-1999. The international community has expected a deal reached on Kosovo's future status between Serbia and Kosovo's pro-independence Albanian authorities at the end of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2006)