Kosovos incoming PM calls again for independence of Kosovo

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(18 Dec 2007) SHOTLIST • 1. Set up of Kosovo's likely new prime minister, Hashim Thaci • 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's likely new prime minister: • We waste a hundred years, we fight for independence, we deserve our freedom and we give guarantee to the democratic world that Kosovo will be sovereign state, democratic state. We will respect minorities through election. I will do everything, the best things for the Serbs of Kosovo. They will be involved in democratic life in the new Kosovo, the parliament, in my government. I confirm they will be part of the new government I will lead and I will do the best to change for positive things my country. • 3. Cutaway of Thaci speaking to reporter • 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's likely new prime minister: • Now it's time for decision and we cooperate closely with the United States and Europe and the decision will be through our coordination steps. • 5. Cutaway of Thaci speaking to reporter • 6.SOUNDBITE (English) Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's likely new prime minister: • Okay we know the reaction of Russia and Serbia, but definitely Kosovo needed and deserved to be independent and it's very important that Russia until now is part of a positive decision for Kosovo as a member of contact group. Very soon I believe that they will recognise the reality in Kosovo too. • 7. Mid of Thaci shaking hands with reporter and walking away • STORYLINE • Kosovo's likely new Prime Minister Hashim Thaci called again for the independence of Kosovo as an autonomous state on Tuesday. • Making the comments in an interview with the Associated Press at the United Nations (UN) New York City, Thaci said democracy had been a long time coming. • We waste a hundred years, we fight for independence, we deserve our freedom and we give guarantee to the democratic world that Kosovo will be sovereign state, democratic state, he said. • Thaci also told the AP that if Kosovo became independent, he would include Serbs in all aspects of his government and Kosovan life. • I will do everything, the best things for the Serbs of Kosovo. They will be involved in democratic life in, in new Kosovo, the parliament, in my government. I confirm they will be part of the new government I will lead and I will do the best to change for positive things my country, he said. • Serbia wants to retain control of the province and has opposed Kosovo's intended call for independence. • To that end, Serbia's current prime minister and Kosovo's president are expected to present their opposing views on the future status of the disputed province to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. • The council's 15 members agreed that Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica would speak as the representative of his country and Kosovo's president, Fatmir Sejdiu, would speak in his private capacity at a closed council meeting, according to Italy's UN Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, who is also the council's president. • The meeting will focus on a report by the Troika, made up of United States, European Union and Russian mediators in two-year talks between Belgrade and Kosovo on resolving the status of the Serbian province. • The talks ended in late November without an agreement. • Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of the seven (m) million population, refuse to budge from their demand for independence while Serbia, backed by its close ally Russia, insists that the province must remain part of its territory. • Kosovo's Sejdiu declared on Wednesday that the province was a 'few days away' from becoming independent of Serbia, but did not specify a date. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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