The cyclical periods of quiet from the southern state of Carinthia, where Mr Haider is governor, followed by verbal pyrotechnics, have led many analysts to speculate about the 52-year-old's psyche.Norbert Stanzel, a political commentator who writes for the Kurier newspaper, said: "There's no denying that Mr Haider has an extremely complex personality structure. You just have to look at his mood swings, from the statesmanlike to the self-destructive ... It's a personality which is a burden on Haider himself."Until relatively recently, Mr Haider's outbursts had brought him a string of successes. Support for the anti-immigration, anti-establishment and EU-sceptical party boomed under his leadership in the late 1980s and 1990s.

The downfall began, when, after securing his party a place in government, Mr Haider continued with his aggressive opposition-style politics against the Vienna coalition in which some of his favourite prot?s sat.Mr Haider is blaming the looming election defeat on "traitors" within his own party, on Mr Sch?l for calling early elections – describing him as a "lunatic" who was "waging a war on the Freedom Party" – and on Brussels, from where "a great deal of money and political persuasion is being invested in destroying right- leaning political movements". Mr Stanzel said he believed Mr Haider "has now manoeuvred himself into a dead-end and can't get out".Herbert Lackner, a senior editor with Profil magazine, said he was cautious about predictions. "In the past we've so often pronounced Haider politically dead ... This time, however, it is actually different, because Haider has discredited himself within his own ranks." Mr Lackner said he thought that Mr Haider might decide to take over the party leadership again but that it was more likely he would try his luck on the European stage in the 2004 parliamentary elections.

He said: "He's been state governor, he's seen that he will never be Chancellor – what else is he is going to do?". Four former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army have been charged by an international prosecutor in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, with war crimes against fellow ethnic Albanians, the first time KLA members have been indicted for such crimes. The others, two high-ranking in the KLA, all served with him in north-east Kosovo during the war They were arrested in January. Mr Mustafa's lawyer, Mexhit Syla, called the charges "very serious, unfounded, and even insulting".The men are accused of involvement in the kidnap, illegal detention and torture of ethnic Albanian civilians. Three of them, including Mr Mustafa, are also accused of ordering killings and committing killings themselves.The United Nations, which has controlled Kosovo since Nato bombing drove out Serb forces three years ago, has been under intense pressure to deal even-handedly with excesses committed by both sides. Many Kosovo Albanians regard Mr Mustafa and his comrades as heroes of the liberation struggle but they have been frequently stigmatised by Serb sources as war criminals and terrorists.Mr Mustafa has been accused of organising the exodus of some 220,000 ethnic Albanians from north Kosovo in 1999 and terrorising villagers..

Nusreta Sivac regards the tranquil scene in this corner of north-western Bosnia. A large, rust-red shed stands amid a cluster of plain red and white buildings. Green fields surround them; the sun shines through scudding clouds It is quiet, silent for miles around. Yet in this peaceful spot, Nusreta and many like her were held captive for weeks and sometimes months, many were systematically raped while hundreds of her neighbours, friends, relations and colleagues were murdered. The people they took in there did not come out alive." The building beside the large red shed "is the canteen building where they kept us". She says of the grassy patch in front of the shed: "They made the men run across here.