NATO issues warning after Kosovo violence

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 24 (Reuters) NATO said today it was concerned at recent violence in Kosovo and would react firmly to any attempt to derail a UN-led process to decide the fate of the province.

Two people were killed in clashes between police and ethnic Albanian protesters on February 10 and last week's bombing of three parked UN vehicles underscored Western fears of unrest after the unveiling this month of a plan for Kosovo's eventual independence.

''We are very concerned about the violence during the February 10 demonstration and the recent bombing of UN vehicles,'' Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of NATO Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, told reporters following talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku.

''KFOR will support the Kosovo Police Service and UN police and will react quickly and firmly to any form of violence and to those who incite violence and to those who plan violence.'' Officials of Serbia and Kosovo's 90-per cent Albanian majority are holding final talks in Vienna on a plan drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari that offers Kosovo a platform to declare independence, after eight years of UN administration.

Some Albanians are angry at its provisions for a powerful European envoy and self-government for the Serb minority, complaining it will only prolong the territory's limbo status.

Diplomats are also concerned at the possibility of Serbs in northern Kosovo trying to split the territory in two.

Serbia has flatly rejected the plan as a violation of international law. Belgrade hopes Russia will veto the document when it reaches the UN Security Council.

The NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) commands 16,500 soldiers from 38 nations. The Alliance, which deployed into Kosovo in 1999 after driving out Serb forces, has pledged to keep troop levels unchanged into 2008.

REUTERS MS RAI1946