Kosovo Albanians design flag of future republic

Pristina (Serbia), May 30: Kosovo Albanian leaders announced a design competition for the flag and national symbols of the Republic of Kosovo, despite continued uncertainty over the Serbian province"s bid for independence.

Parliament should formally call the tender on June 4, and the competition would close two weeks later.

New passports would also be prepared in anticipation of a United Nations resolution that the West hopes will set Kosovo on the road to statehood after eight years of UN administration.

""We agreed the travel documents should carry "Republic of Kosovo", but without a crest, which can be incorporated later,"" political leader Veton Surroi told reporters yesterday.

Kosovo, where 90 per cent of the 2 million people are ethnic Albanians, had hoped to declare independence from Serbia by now, but their Western backers have been frustrated by opposition from Russia, Serbia"s main ally and a UN veto holder.

Kosovo Albanians can now get passports issued by the UN mission in Kosovo, but many also carry Yugoslav passports.

The Albanian national flag the black-on-red double-headed eagle has served as Kosovo"s own since 1999, when NATO bombs wrested control of the territory from Slobodan Milosevic"s Serbia.

But under a blueprint drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, Kosovo must have new symbols reflecting the multi-ethnic character of a province that is also home to 100,000 Serbs as well as Roma and Turkish minorities.

Albanians refuse to consider anything but independence, after a decade of repression in the 1990s and a two-year counter-insurgency war which drew NATO intervention to stop Serb forces from slaughtering and expelling Albanian civilians.

Ten thousand Albanians died and almost one million took temporary refuge in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro.

The United States and major European Union states want the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution within weeks, fearing that NATO"s 16,500 peacekeepers in the territory could face unrest if a decision does not come soon.

But Russia is refusing to back down in its support for Serbia, which has offered broad autonomy for land steeped in history and legend for Serbs.

Reuters>