Serbia urges UN to reject Kosovo independence

BELGRADE, Jan 3 (Reuters) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica asked the new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon today to protect Serbia's territorial integrity and ensure that the disputed Kosovo province is not granted independence.

''It must be made clear that it is unacceptable and impossible to redraw Serbia's internationally recognised borders against its will, and to create another Albanian state on 15 percent of Serbia's territory,'' he wrote, according to a statement from his office.

The fate of Kosovo is due to be decided by the United Nations in the spring. It has been under UN rule since 1999 when NATO bombed Serb forces to halt killing of Kosovo Albanians in a counter-insurgency campaign.

Kostunica has issued a series of unbending statements on Kosovo in campaign speeches for a general election on January. 21, saying on New Year's eve that ''the preservation of Kosovo amounts to the preservation of Serbia''.

The prime minister warns that granting independence to Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian population would be a flagrant violation of international law.

The province should remain part of Serbia, with wide autonomy, Kostunica says. Kosovo Albanians reject any renewal of ties to Belgrade.

A proposal for Kosovo's future status, drawn up by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari after months of almost fruitless talks, was postponed in November at the request of Western powers, to avoid making Kosovo's possible independence a winner for Serb ultranationalists in the coming election.

Kostunica's letter said the UN Charter protects the ''integrity of internationally recognised states'' and is valid for all states of the world. ''And by that simple principle (it) must apply for the Republic of Serbia,'' he wrote.

REUTERS PB PM2358