Explosion targets OSCE in Kosovo; no injuries

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 26 (Reuters) A device exploded in the parking lot of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the western Kosovo town of Pec today but no one was hurt, police said.

Seven OSCE cars were damaged in the blast at around 3.30 a.m.

0800 hrs IST, a police spokesman Avni Gjevukaj said.

Gjevukaj said a second unexploded device had been found in the area which was sealed off by police and NATO peacekeepers.

The explosion was the second in a week to target international institutions in the breakaway Serbian province ahead of a decision on the Albanian majority's demand for independence.

On Monday last week, three United Nations cars were damaged in an explosion in a residential area of the capital, Pristina.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of killing and expelling civilians in a two-year war with guerrillas.

Officials of Serbia and the 90-percent Albanian majority are holding final talks in Vienna on a UN plan unveiled this month for Kosovo's eventual independence.

Some Kosovo Albanians are angry at the plan's provisions for a foreign overseer and self-government for the Serb minority. Two people died on February 10 in clashes between police and Albanians protesting against the plan.

REUTERS PB BD1628