West submits Kosovo independence draft at UN

West submits Kosovo independence draft at UN
Agence France Presse (English) - May 11, 2007 Friday 8:33 PM GMT

UNITED NATIONS, May 11 2007 - Western powers on Friday introduced a draft resolution in the Security Council endorsing a UN plan to grant Kosovo independence from Serbia despite stiff opposition from veto-wielding Russia.

The text, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, "endorses the provisions contained" in UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo's supervised independence.

The binding text, which invokes Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, also reaffirms the council's "commitment to a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo, which will reinforce regional stability."

It was sponsored by the United States and its European allies on the council as well as by Germany, which is not a member but currently chairs the European Union.

"With this draft resolution, the discussion on the future status of Kosovo now enters its final phase," French Ambassador to the UN Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said. "The council must meet its responsibilities to ensure the success of the process that it had initiated."

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the council president this month, said Thursday he believed "the votes are there for supporting the Ahtisaari plan assuming there's no Russian veto."

To be adopted, a council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no veto from any of the five veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Serbia and Russia strongly oppose Kosovo independence, while the United States, the European Union and the leaders of ethnic Albanians, who comprise around 90 percent of Kosovo's two million inhabitants, support it.

Moscow has threatened to wield its veto to block the plan, while Serbia has proposed "monitored autonomy" instead of independence for a province it views as its historic heartland.