UN envoy clarifies Kosovo independence proposal

Pristine, Serbia, Mar 16: An annex to a Western-backed proposal being presented to the United Nations explicitly recommends independence for Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province, political sources said.

UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari had avoided using the term 'independence' in his 58-page plan unveiled last month, though leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's 90-per cent Albanian majority said this was clearly what the proposal amounted to.

Ahtisaari's deputy, Albert Rohan, is due to present the proposal to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in New York yesterday, after the mediators declared an end at the weekend to 13 months of fruitless Serb-Albanian talks in Vienna.

Ahtisaari told sources on Monday he would submit a ''separate piece of paper which actually spells out the status issue very clearly and gives a justification for that.'' A political source in the U.N.-run province told Reuters it recommends ''independence under international supervision''. A second political source confirmed the information, saying the document made frequent references to independence for Kosovo.

The province of 2 million people has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive out Serb forces accused of killing and expelling Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

Ahtisaari's proposal, if adopted by the UN Security Council, would provide Kosovo with a platform on which to declare independence from Serbia.

It recommends Kosovo be given the right to join international organisations reserved for sovereign states. It provides for a powerful foreign overseer and an EU police mission alongside the current 16,500-strong NATO peace force.

Ahtisaari says he expects the Security Council to open debate on his proposal in early April.

But veto holder Russia called his decision to end talks ''premature'' and has repeated it will only support a solution acceptable to both Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians, something Ahtisaari says is impossible.

Serbia has rejected the blueprint, saying it represents a ''brutal violation of the UN charter''.

The West hopes for a new UN resolution endorsing Ahtisaari's proposal by end-June, fearing possible Albanian unrest.

Reuters

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