Serbs want talks but rule out independent Kosovo

SERBIA:Serbia has called for fresh talks with Kosovo to reach a compromise on the future of the province.

This comes amid fears among Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority that Washington and the European Union might put the brakes on its bid for independence from Belgrade.

United Nations prosecutor Carla del Ponte has backed a delay to a decision on Kosovo, saying it could stop Serbia trying to catch war crimes suspects.

Several western diplomats have suggested that the US and EU are preparing a UN resolution proposing four more months of talks between Belgrade and Kosovo before independence would be granted.

"We've got to talk, we want to talk and we're ready to make a deal," Serbia's foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said yesterday.

"We are prepared to look at all options, because we believe that any compromise, any compromise whatsoever, is infinitely better than any imposed solution."

He added, however, that Belgrade would never accept independence for Kosovo, which Serbia considers the historical and spiritual cradle of its nation.

The region has been run by the UN since 1999, when Nato bombing drove out Serb troops following a crackdown on separatist guerrillas who killed about 10,000 ethnic Albanians and displaced 800,000 others.

Kosovo's leaders vow to accept nothing short of independence, but broad US and EU support for their position has been met by a Russian threat to block any UN resolution that is not acceptable to Serbia.

Several western diplomats have said this week that a new resolution drawn up by the US and EU will propose another 120 days of talks between Serbia and Kosovo, after which an existing independence plan would be implemented automatically if no agreement is reached.

That plan, devised by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, would give broad independence to Kosovo under the supervision of the EU - but Serbia and Russia have already rejected it.

Kosovan officials support Mr Ahtisaari's plan, reject more talks with Serbia and have threatened to declare independence unilaterally if it is not granted swiftly by the UN.

Analysts say that such a move would run the risk of sparking violence and prompting the region's beleaguered Serb minority to seek refuge in Serbia itself.

"Further talks with the Serbian side on the Kosovo status issue would have no meaning whatsoever, as it is widely known that the positions of the two sides are utterly opposite," said Xhavit Beqiri, a spokesman for Kosovo's president, Fatmir Sejdiu.