UN plan clear on independence - Kosovo leaders

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 2 (Reuters) The plan by United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari on the future of Kosovo ''will end with independence'' for Serbia's breakaway province, Kosovo Albanian leaders said today.

''Kosovo will be sovereign like all other countries,'' said Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu after meeting Ahtisaari. Prime Minister Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla in the Kosovo Liberation Army, said the document ''is very clear for Kosovo's future''.

The plan, already presented to Belgrade, does not mention independence but opens the door to Kosovo getting all the trappings of a sovereign state, albeit supervised by the European Union and a NATO peace force.

It comes eight years after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with guerrillas.

The West let an end-2006 deadline for Ahtisaari's proposal slip to avoid making the possible loss of Kosovo a vote-winner for ultranationalists in Serbia's January election.

Diplomats had warned that patience among Kosovo's 90-per cent Albanian majority was running out. They said further delays, or a plan that failed to satisfy the Albanians could spark unrest in the province, which was swept in 2004 by riots targetting the Serb minority.

Reuters PDM DB2141