ZAGREB: Serbia set itself against the international community and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians on Monday by endorsing a new constitution declaring Kosovo for ever part of Serbia, only a few months before it is expected to lose the province.

The new constitution, Serbia's first as an independent state since 1918, was rushed through by the nationalist Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, to pre-empt a UN Security Council decision on the status of Kosovo due by the end of the year.

US, EU and Kosovo Albanian officials dismissed the vote as irrelevant, but Mr Kostunica insisted the new constitution would safeguard Serbia's "territorial integrity". "We made clear that Kosovo is part of Serbia," he declared.

Frank Wisner, the senior US official dealing with Kosovo, went to Belgrade on Monday for two days of talks with Serbian leaders aimed at heading off conflict as the UN nears a decision.

Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999 and the Albanian-majority province has since been under UN administration. The UN envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, has been trying to engineer an agreement on the future of the province. He is expected to recommend a quasi-independent Kosovo to the UN within the next three weeks.

While the Serbs voted overwhelmingly to keep Kosovo (more than 96% of the 54% turnout), the Kosovo Albanians had no say in the matter. They were not included on the electoral rolls.

Tensions are rising as Kosovo's formal break with Serbia looms. Diplomats fear there could be an eruption of violence if the Albanian majority are disappointed by an international compromise. —Dawn/The Guardian News Service