Serbia says Kosovo partition key to peace

Associated Press ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/27/2008 6:44 PM

Kosovo must be partitioned between its minority Serbs and dominant ethnic Albanians to reduce tensions there, Serbia's foreign minister said Thursday.

Vuk Jeremic said Serbia would bring its demand that the country be split along ethnic lines to the United Nations. Kosovo's prime minister has already rejected the proposal, saying Serbia must accept all of his country is independent.

The proposal is a way to "calm the situation down" following several violent incidents sparked by Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia last month, Jeremic said in Indonesia, where he is urging international opposition to Kosovo's independence.

Indonesia has yet to recognize Kosovo, despite calls by some Muslim lawmakers that it should do so out of religious solidarity. Most ethnic Albanians are Muslims, as are most of Indonesia's 220 million people.

Jeremic said the breakup had nothing to do with religion.

"It is an issue of ethnic Albanians in Serbia who are seeking independence, unfortunately in a unilateral way," he said. "It is not the issue of Muslims in Serbia seeking independence."

The United States and most countries in the European Union have recognized Kosovo as an independent state, but Serbia's authorities say the declaration was illegal under international
law.

According to media reports, the partition proposal says the Serbian government recognizes the U.N.'s authority in Kosovo, but insists that only Serbs can control the police, judiciary and customs services in parts of Kosovo where Serbs are a majority.

The division would run along the Ibar river, which divides the city of Mitrovica into two and separates Kosovo's north, where most of the Serbs live. Serbs account for about 5 percent of
Kosovo's 2 million people. (**)

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