Kosovo newspaper Koha Ditore reported on July 14 that the process of appointing diplomats for the self-proclaimed independent state is being held up by disagreements between the two parties in power.

Quoting what it described as a senior official from one of the ruling coalition parties, the newspaper said that there was, however, an agreement that the centre-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) would nominate the diplomats who will serve in Washington and London, while the centre-left Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) will nominate candidates for other capitals.

On the same day, Kosovo daily Express said that prime minister Hashim Thaçi and the PDK seem to be running into difficulties to find names of people to head the new sectors of the Government.

The post of the minister of the security force is probably the greatest challenge for the heads of the party, the newspaper said. The difficulties arose from finding the proper individual to head of the Kosovo Security Force while at the same time several senior PDK officials were bidding for the job.

Express, quoting anonymous sources, said that Mitrovica mayor Bajram Rexhepi was among those who wanted to head the Kosovo Security Force.

Contacted by the paper on Sunday, Rexhepi said: "There has been speculation, but I am definitively not running for the post. I will perform my mandate as Mitrovica mayor to the end."

The name of Azem Syla, one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was also mentioned as a possible minister of the security force. However, the same sources told Express that Syla would not get the job.

"The name of the minister of the security force will be a surprise," the paper quoted its sources as saying.

Meanwhile, on July 14, Fisnik Rexhepi, the political adviser to Kosovo interior minister, said that the state would start issuing new passports from next week. A French company has been given a contract to produce identification cards and driving licence cards and distribution of these will start in September, Rexhepi said.

However, those wanting to travel on Kosovo passports may face difficulties, because some countries that have declined to recognise as valid Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence on February 17 2008 have also said that they will decline to recognise Kosovo passports. Since the UN took over the administration of Kosovo, the UN administration in the territory has issued passports for residents of Kosovo.