Serbs oppose U N Kosovo plan as last talks start

VIENNA, Feb 21 (Reuters) Serbia today again rejected a United Nations plan for independence for its breakaway Kosovo province as a final round of talks on the blueprint began.

Serbia's recalcitrance was a predictable opener to what UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari says will be final talks on the issue over the next two weeks, after which he will take his proposal to the UN to let it decide.

As Serbia revoiced its opposition to the plan, which would give the mainly Albanian province a path to independence supervised by the European Union, Kosovo's Albanian majority again rejected a Serb offer of autonomy.

''It's like Groundhog Day. You wake up and find exactly the same proposals from Belgrade,'' Albanian delegate Veton Surroi told reporters.

Surroi said the Serbs were ''trying to reopen a totally new process of negotiation'' instead of discussing Ahtisaari's plan which is ''applicable only in an independent Kosovo''.

Ahtisaari also expressed a sense of deja vu.

''On the status issue ... nothing has indicated that the parties will be moving in a different direction,'' he said during a break in the proceedings.

Serbia says it is acting in good faith in insisting that it retain sovereignty. Though the province's population is 90 percent Albanian, Serbs regard it for historical reasons as the ancient religious heartland of Serbia.

''We are not rejecting the entire plan. We reject only the provisions violating the territorial integrity of Serbia,'' said Serbian negotiator Slobodan Samardzic.

But the Kosovo Albanian demand to be free of Serbian rule remains the fundamental issue.

Kosovo was the cause of NATO's first ''humanitarian'' war in 1999 to remove Serb forces who killed 10,000 Albanians and drove out almost 1 million in a two-year conflict with separatist Albanian rebels.

The United Nations took control, but left Kosovo's status open. The West sees no prospect of reimposing Serb rule.

NO COMMON GROUND ''This was the basic reason for the conflict -- who is going to run Kosovo,'' Surroi told reporters at the close of the first day of talks. He said Kosovo ''flatly rejected'' Serb proposals that he said might have been voiced by the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, who directed the 1998-99 war.

Serbia's Leon Kojen said ''even though Mr Ahtisaari doesn't use the word independence in his proposal, there is no doubt that what he envisages is an independent Kosovo''.

''We offer Kosovo substantial autonomy within Serbia. We cannot accept any form of independence for Kosovo.'' Serbia, backed by Russia, strongly opposes independence for Kosovo demanded by its Albanian majority.

Ahtisaari warned on Wednesday that security in Kosovo could deteriorate if a decision is delayed.

''I have already delayed my plan too much,'' he told a news conference. ''If there's eternal delay in this process then the security situation becomes problematic.'' Serbia says Albanian extremists threatening violence if independence does not come very soon must not be permitted to blackmail the international community.

Ahtisaari agreed to delay presenting his proposals in November because Serbia was to hold a general election in January.

The process was delayed again briefly last month when Ahtisaari postponed the final round of talks to allow Serbia to convene its new parliament.

REUTERS PDS RN0056