Pole appointed human rights ombudsman in Kosovo peacekeeping mission

Marek Antoni Nowicki has been appointed the international human rights ombudsman in Kosovo by Bernard Kouchner, special representative of the United Nations Secretary General. "I consider this nomination to be very prestigious for Poland. This is a big challenge for me," said Nowicki, who has 20 years of experience dealing with human rights both in Poland and abroad. In related news, the first group of some 200 soldiers from the Polish-Ukrainian battalion from Przemysl, left for Kosovo yesterday, going on their first international mission. (Rzeczpospolita, page A3) T.J.