Serbia takes case for keeping Kosovo to US and UN

BELGRADE, July 10 (Reuters) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica left for the United States today hoping to convince the West and the United Nations not to give independence to Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.

''Kostunica will warn the Security Council that any imposed solution (on Kosovo) and the snatching away of 15 per cent of Serbia's territory is completely unacceptable,'' a government statement said.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against ethnic Albanian civilians while battling a guerrilla insurgency.

U N-mediated talks on its future started in February but stuck to secondary issues. Talks on the central question -- independence or not -- are to start in late July.

Western diplomats say the likeliest outcome is the promise of some form of independence before year-end. But Russia, a traditional ally of the Serbs that has a veto in the Security Council, says there is no need to rush to a decision to satisfy an ''artificial timetable''.

Kostunica started his diplomatic offensive in June, touring European capitals to present Serbia's proposal of ''substantial autonomy'' for the province, an offer sometimes defined as ''more than autonomy, less than independence''.

He is due to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior U S officials on Tuesday and Wednesday and will take part in a U N Security Council session on Thursday.

''The Prime Minister will present to the Security Council Serbia's view that this proposal is a compromise in line with the principles of international law and European democratic standards,'' the statement said.

NATION REELING Kostunica's visit is not expected to affect the outcome on Kosovo. The West has already said this ''must reflect the wishes of the majority of the population'', meaning the 90 per cent ethnic Albanians who want all legal ties to Belgrade severed.

Western powers also fear anything short of independence may trigger violence by Albanian extremists against the province's minority Serbs. Kosovo is guarded by a NATO-led acekeeping force of 17,000 troops who plan to stay on for a time.

Rice's invitation of Kostunica to visit the United States is seen as a goodwill gesture aiming at reassuring Serbs they are not pariahs, being pushed around by biased big powers.

The European Union and NATO have recently made moves to show Serbia it is still a welcome future member. U S Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in late June that there was ''no question all of us want to reach out to Serbia''.

The positive signals are meant to keep Serbs on-side with the West, after a series of humiliations this year hurt national pride and boosted ultranationalist sentiment.

In May, the European Union suspended talks with Belgrade as punishment for failing to hand over Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Montenegro then voted to dissolve its union with Serbia and declared independence in June, largely on the prospect of quicker EU entry without Serbia's war crimes baggage.

The loss of Kosovo, a territory of mythical status and great religious significance for Serbs, would be the hardest blow since Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia left the Serb-dominated Yugoslav federation starting in 1991.

REUTERS KD BST2114