Kosovo presses for independence

From Times Wire Reports

July 21, 2007

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku called on the province's parliament to declare independence from Serbia on Nov. 28. He acted after the United States and Europeans discarded a U.N. resolution on the province's future status in the face of Russian opposition.

The resolution did not call for independence, but it followed several key provisions of a supervised independence plan devised by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

Kosovo, where 90% of the 2 million people are ethnic Albanians, has been run by the U.N. since 1999, when NATO bombs forced out Serbian troops who were killing and expelling Albanians in a two-year war with guerrillas.