Protest mocks Kosovo leaders, demands independence

PRISTINA, Serbia, June 30 (Reuters) Hundreds of ethnic Albanians demonstrated in Kosovo today, trampling on effigies of the province's leaders and calling for an end to the diplomatic deadlock over its demand for independence.

Unlike in February when 3,000 people took to the streets and two died in clashes with United Nations police, the protest passed peacefully.

Western powers, struggling to overcome Russian opposition and steer Kosovo's independence from Serbia through the United Nations, will take the relatively low turnout as a sign the Albanian majority's patience is holding.

Calling for a referendum, 600 Albanians marched through Pristina, lobbing rolls of toilet paper at the parliament and mocking effigies of the interim president and prime minister.

Leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority, acting on assurances by Western powers, had promised independence by mid-year, having twice seen the process delayed in 2006 to limit the expected fallout in Serbia.

But Russia, an ally of Serbia, has blocked the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that would effectively set Kosovo on the path to statehood eight years after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control.

''We recognise only one language, the language of the referendum and the people's will for freedom and independence,'' protest leader Glauk Konjufca told the crowd.

Serbia lost control over its southern province in 1999, when NATO bombed for 11 weeks to drive out Serb forces and halt atrocities in a two-year war against separatist guerrillas.

Around 800,000 Albanians were temporarily expelled, and independent estimates put the civilian death toll at between 7,500 and 12,000, mostly Albanians.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer yesterday asked Albanian leaders to give the West more time to overcome Russia's opposition, but admitted the project was ''facing difficulties''.

Alliance powers leading 16,000 soldiers in the territory fear Albanian impatience could explode into violence. The West has offered Russia another 120 days of talks between Serb and Albanians, on top of 13 months that ended in March in stalemate.

Kosovo leaders are looking to the July 1-2 meeting between US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin for signs of a deal.

Reuters RS GC2137