Kosovo Albanians Reject Extending Talks Deadline

Serbia wants the talks, backed by a troika of Russia, the United States and the European Union, to continue past the Dec. 10 deadline.

Kosovo Albanians ruled out extending negotiations over the future of the breakaway province past a Dec. 10 deadline, saying on Sunday they wanted the issue resolved as soon as possible.

"We consider that Dec. 10 will mark the end of this negotiation process," Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu told reporters after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Paris.

"We consider that it ends there. For us it is very important to proceed as quickly as possible." The comments come a day before a meeting with Serb negotiators in Vienna with no sign of a resolution to the standoff over the Albanian majority's demand for independence, which Serbia opposes.

Serbia wants the talks, backed by a troika of Russia, the United States and the European Union, to continue past the Dec. 10 deadline. Sejdiu said this would be unacceptable.

"We do not want to be hostages to an additional delay," he said, although he declined to say whether the province would unilaterally declare independence if there is no agreement.

"We are working to ensure that this process is concluded by Dec. 10 and we will wait on this normal process of consultation to take a decision later," he said, when asked when he expected to declare independence.

Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, are frustrated that their province remains in U.N.-administered limbo eight years after an international bombing campaign.

Serbia, which sees the province as its cultural heartland, refuses to consider granting independence but has offered a broad form of autonomy.

Russia, which has backed Serbia in the dispute and blocked a plan by a United Nations envoy that would have led to independence, said last week talks would have to carry on past the Dec. 10 deadline.