West should tweak Kosovo plan - thinktank

PRISTINA, Serbia, May 15 (Reuters) The West should consider a moratorium on Kosovo's membership of the UN to encourage Russian acquiescence to a resolution giving the Serbian province independence, an influential thinktank says.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), in a report published late yesterday, suggested the appointment of a special envoy for Kosovo's Serb minority might also soften Moscow's opposition to the resolution drafted last week.

''A compromise solution may be possible and should be attempted,'' it said, but warned that tensions could pass ''breaking point'' without a resolution by summer.

Serb ally Russia has warned it may veto a resolution circulated by Western members of the UN Security Council on Friday, based on a plan by UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari offering the Albanian majority province independence under international supervision.

''Crisis Group recommends small revisions to the plan ... in order to demonstrate responsiveness to Russia's prerogatives, in particular creation of a Special Envoy for Minorities and two-year moratorium before Kosovo can apply for UN membership.'' The West wants a decision within weeks, worried that NATO's 16,500 peacekeepers in the territory will face widespread unrest if the 2 million Albanians are made to wait much longer.

Serbia's southern province has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombed in 1999 to drive out Serb forces accused of slaughtering Albanian civilians in a two-year counter-insurgency war.

BREAKING POINT Serbia opposes independence for its spiritual heartland, but 13 months of talks with the Albanians failed to bridge the gap.

Ahtisaari's deputy, in a newspaper interview to be published tomorrow, cautioned against any fundamental revision of the blueprint, which the mediators say strikes a delicate balance between Albanian aspirations and the concerns of Serbs.

''Each word has been weighed up 10 times,'' Albert Rohan told French newspaper La Croix. ''To call the proposal into question is to open up Pandora's Box.'' Rohan rejected Russia's call for more talks until both sides agree. ''There is no ideal solution which would allow the two parties to reach an agreement. Serbs and Kosovars are too rigid and their positions are mutually exclusive.'' The ICG advised Kosovo leaders against a unilateral declaration of independence with current UN resolution 1244 still in place, a move the US has indicated it would support.

''The US threat of recognising Kosovo unilaterally, with 1244 still in force, would place the EU in a dilemma, one likely to split and paralyse it,'' the ICG said. ''Some EU member states might recognise Kosovo, many would not.'' Reuters TB VP0030