The former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, has expressed "regret and pain" for all those who lost their lives during the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s, as his defense team told the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial in The Hague that he did not have command power despite being a guerrilla leader.
Thaci faces 10 charges for allegedly targeting those perceived as enemies of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) as the group fought against persecution from Belgrade in 1998-99 during the conflict known as the Kosovo War.
"I feel regret and pain for all the victims of this war, regardless of their ethnic, religious, or political affiliation," Thaci told the court in a short address during the second day of his trial on April 4, again rejecting all charges against him.
"I am innocent of all these charges. But I am ready to face this new challenge and succeed for my family, my people", he added.
Earlier in the day, his lawyers said that, during the period of time covered by the war crimes indictment against him and three other former UCK commanders, Thaci did not have operational command in the guerrilla group.
More than 10,000 people -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo -- were killed during the conflict, and more than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia, which at the time consisted of Serbia and Montenegro.
Kosovo was an autonomous part of Serbia with an overwhelming ethnic Albanian majority that had been subjected to systematic discrimination by Belgrade.
The prosecution has accused the 54-year-old Thaci, who has been in detention for the past two years as he awaited trial, and the other defendants of targeting ethnic Serbs and Roma during the conflict and in its aftermath.
WATCH: Former Kosovar President Hashim Thaci pleads not guilty to war crimes charges on the first day of his trial in The Hague.
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Former Kosovar President Thaci Pleads Not Guilty To War Crimes
The Council of Europe in 2020 said the charges against Thaci and the others related to the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of at least 100 civilians, mostly Serbs and Roma, along with ethnic Albanian political opponents.
Thaci and the other three accused have pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.
Defense lawyer Gregory Kehoe said that local commanders, and not the General Staff, of which Thaci was a member, held the power during the war.
"Thaci did not control the UCK, as the prosecution claims," Kehoe said, arguing that the UCK did not have a functional command structure during the war.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move recognized by many Western states but not by Serbia, its allies Russia and China, and several EU members.
After the war, Thaci, who was popular among Kosovars, went on to become president and prime minister at different times.
He resigned as president in November 2020 after learning that The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) had confirmed an indictment against him.
The KSC operates under the laws of Kosovo but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation.