March 27, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1428

UNITED NATIONS, March 26: UN chief mediator Martti Ahtisaari on Monday recommended independence for Kosovo as the only option for the breakaway Serbian province, a proposal already fiercely rejected by Serbia and Russia.

“Independence is the only option for a politically stable and economically viable Kosovo,” Ahtisaari said in his long-awaited report on the future status of the ethnic-Albanian majority province in southern Serbia.

“I therefore propose that the exercise of Kosovo's independence ... be supervised and supported for an initial period by international civilian and military presences.” Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since 1999, after a Nato bombing campaign helped to drive out Serb forces carrying out a brutal crackdown on the majority ethnic Albanians.

After 13 months of negotiations led by Ahtisaari, Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs earlier this month rejected independence for the province, calling instead for more negotiations.

But Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90 per cent of the province's population of two million, accepted the plan, rejecting any links with Belgrade.

Russia has also slammed the independence proposal, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling for more efforts to find a compromise between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

In Brussels, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns on Monday backed Ahtisaari's recommendations.

“We are going to issue today a declaration that says we fully support Martti Ahtisaari's proposal,” he said.

“The US does support the proposal by Ahtisaari to offer independence under supervision.” Burns said he thought a UN Security Council resolution confirming the province's future status could be adopted “in April or May”.

He remained cautious when asked about how objections voiced by Russia, which is a veto-holding permanent member of the Council, would be handled.

“Only in an independent Kosovo will its democratic institutions be fully responsible and accountable for their actions,” Ahtisaari said in his report.

“While independence for Kosovo is the only realistic option, Kosovo's capacity to tackle the challenges of minority protection, democratic development, economic recovery and social reconciliation on its own is still limited,” Ahtisaari said.

He made clear that although Kosovo's leaders have stepped up efforts to reach out to minority Serbs and improve the implementation of democratic commitments to protect minority rights, they needed to make an even greater effort. — AFP