Monday, November 14, 2005

Kosovo accord chances "Better than buying a lottery ticket"

This is how the newly appointed UN envoy for the final status talks on Kosovo has described the chances of an agreement between the two sides.

But Martti Ahtisaari won't estimate any timeframe for resolving the dispute over the Serbian province.

He will want to hear the opinions of Serbs, Albanians and several international organisations before forming an opinion.

The Finnish former president has made his first public comments on the job since his formal appointment as the mediator.

"I think that everyone understands that the process can't go on for ever. And we have to go forward as fast as we can."

Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999.

NATO air bombardment forced thenformer President Slobodan Milosevic to end a two-year campaign against an ethnic Albanian guerrilla insurgency.

Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority are demanding independence.

Serbia is offering far-reaching autonomy.

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