Kosovo's parliament approves team to lead talks on the province's future

Associated Press, Sep 28, 2005 7:55 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo's parliament on Wednesday backed the president's decision to appoint a team to lead possible talks on resolving the province's status, though two opposition groups abstained in protest.

A majority of those present at the session voted to approve the team, to include the president, prime minister, two opposition leaders and the parliament speaker, said Nexhat Daci, the president of the province's assembly.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, however, criticized the move to name the team, saying it had been done unilaterally. It had demanded that parliament be allowed to debate the measure before voting, but no such debate was held.

ORA, the second biggest opposition party, also abstained from the vote, after seeking a more detailed plan on the team.

Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova appointed the team earlier this month, a move seen as an attempt to unite the fraction-ridden political scene before the talks on the status of the U.N.-run province.

The talks were to start by year's end, if recommended by the special U.N. envoy in Kosovo. The envoy, Kai Eide, was to present a report to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with his recommendations next month.

Kosovo has been under U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO since the alliance's 1999 air war that stopped a Serb crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. The province's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, while its Serb minority wants it to remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.