Senior US diplomat hints at Kosovo negotations and independence

Jul 9, 2007, 16:43 GMT

Pristina - US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said Monday there would more than likely be a new round of negotiations to determine the future status of Serbia's breakaway southern province of Kosovo.

'I can't give you the details, but I will say that it is most likely that there will be a period of negotiations,' Fried said in Pristina, adding that the new phase of discussions would have a defined time limit.

However, he also said once negotiations have been completed, Kosovo would become independent, reiterating statements made by US President George Bush several weeks ago in Bulgaria and Albania.

'Kosovo will at the end of the day be independent. And this will not be long in coming,' Fried said.

'It is the belief of my government that a limited period of negotiations is the best way ahead, and it will result in the best possible outcome for all the people of this country,' he added.

Kosovo's majority Albanian population wants independence from Serbia, while Belgrade insists on retaining sovereignty over the province.

After a year of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, UN Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari submitted a plan calling for internationally-supervised independence of Kosovo - a plan that is endorsed by both the US and EU.

However, Serbia has found an ally in Russia, which threatens to veto all Kosovo resolutions submitted to the United Nations Security Council that are not bilaterally acceptable.

The UN administrator in Kosovo Joachim Ruecker was scheduled to address the Security Council on Monday.

Many international officials including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon fear that further postponements of a solution could threaten the stability of Kosovo and the entire region.

The growing impatience of the Albanian majority has been witnessed in a series of protests over the last several years, some of which turned violent, and threats by paramilitaries of the now defunct Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) that violence would break out, if Kosovo does not receive independence.

Fried said that protecting the minority Serbian population would be the international community's top priority no matter what the outcome of the status process is.

Kosovo has been a virtual UN protectorate since a NATO bombing mission pushed Serbian forces out of the province in 1999, ending bloody conflicts between the Serbian military and Albanian 'freedom fighters.'