Serbs and Albanians await U.N. plan for Kosovo

Kosovo has been run by the U.N. since 1999 when 11 weeks of bombing by NATO forced the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces, accused of killing 10,000 Albanians during a counter-insurgency war.

The poor, landlocked province of two million is about the size of Cyprus or Jamaica, but it is cherished by Serbia for its cultural and religious heritage as the medieval homeland of the nation.

Ahtisaari will also present his plan in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, where Albanian leaders know they are to be offered something short of independence at first, coupled with more years of international supervision by a European Union mission.

Serbian president Tadic has warned Serbs that, whatever appeals and arguments their country makes, it may be no longer possible to prevent the loss of Kosovo. But Kostunica has vowed never to accept this, saying Belgrade should sever ties with any country that recognizes the province as an independent state.

That could mean closing Serbia's embassies in Washington, London, Paris, Rome and other Western capitals.

The United States embassy in Belgrade on Thursday issued a statement saying it was "very disappointed" that Kostunica, once labeled a moderate nationalist, was insisting that any party hoping to join him in coalition must swear to do as he proposes.

Tadic's party said Kostunica was trying to impose conditions that were detrimental to the country.

Kostunica, a constitutional lawyer by profession, says he is trusting to Serbia's friends in the Kremlin to block Kosovo independence by insisting on the law of sovereignty.

Ahtisaari intends to hold a limited round of talks with Serbs and Kosovo Albanians in Vienna in the coming weeks before the United Nations takes up his proposals formally.

But Kostunica says Serbia will not participate.