Bush meets Kosovo leader on independence bid

Pristina (Serbia), June 6: US President George W Bush met today with a senior ethnic Albanian leader from Kosovo, as Washington pushes for a United Nations vote within days on the province's bid for independence from Serbia.

The meeting with Veton Surroi, a prominent politician and unofficial roving ambassador in Kosovo's drive for independence, took place in the Czech capital Prague, which Bush is visiting ahead of a summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations.

In a statement from his ORA political party, Surroi said Bush had pledged ''accelerated steps'' in adopting a resolution at the UN Security Council which would open the door to a declaration of independence by the majority Albanian province.

Kosovo's fate is likely to be on the agenda when the G8 Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States convenes on Wednesday in Germany.

Russia opposes the Western-backed resolution circulated last week and has threatened to use its veto in support of Belgrade, which insists that Kosovo must remain within Serbia's borders.

''On behalf of all Kosovars I expressed gratitude for America's leadership and the need for this leadership to remain forthright in these moments,'' Surroi said in the statement.

The United States, which has around 1,700 troops serving with a 16,500-strong NATO-led peace force in Kosovo, says it wants the resolution adopted this week. But diplomats caution it might take longer to work around stiff Russian opposition.

The province of 2 million people, 90 per cent of whom are ethnic Albanian, has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces to halt the slaughter and expulsion of civilians in a two-year war with Albanian separatist guerrillas. Ten thousand people died.

After 13 months of fruitless Serb-Albanian talks, UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari submitted a blueprint in April proposing independence, supervised by NATO and the European Union.

Bush is due to take his European tour to the Albanian capital Tirana on Sunday, when local media reports have suggested he might meet Kosovo's president or prime minister.

Reuters>