The UN Security Council held consultations Monday on issues
concerning the situation in Kosovo, but more time is needed to
bridge the difference over the future status of the breakaway
province of Serbia.
Joachim Rucker, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special
representative there, briefed council members on Ban's recent
report on the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo.
In the report, the secretary-general said that, while Kosovo's
overall progress is encouraging, there is a real risk that the
progress that has been achieved can begin to unravel if its future
status remains undefined.
Speaking to reporters after the council meeting, Chinese
Ambassador Wang Guangya said council members remained divided over
the future status of Kosovo.
But Wang noted that the important thing was that council members
in their comments talked about the possibility of resuming the
negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.
"We want to have more time to bridge the differences in the
council and also to bridge the differences in the region," Wang
said.
The United States and its European allies have drafted a
resolution that would give Kosovo and Serbia four more months for
further negotiations on the province's future status. If no
agreement still can be reached, Kosovo would be granted
independence under international supervision.
Serbia has vehemently opposed to any plan that would lead to
independence, and Russia has been calling for more talks between
the two sides, saying that no plan is acceptable without the
consent of Serbia.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States and its
allies are working on a new draft and urged a decision by the
council on the Kosovo issue.
"We are working with our colleagues to come up with a resolution
that can be brought to the council in the next few days," he told
reporters.
The US envoy said he believed that the next 10 days will be a
"decisive period with regard to the Security Council's role in
making a decision on this issue."
The United States is ready to support a period for more
negotiations, which has been part of a revised resolution, he
said.
"I think the time has come for Russia to take a step in the
right direction on this issue," he added.
The United States, Britain and France circulated late last month
a revised resolution stating that the Kosovo issue should not be
taken as "a precedent" by the Security Council. It allows for a
120-day delay for Serbia and Kosovo to hold more talks before key
provisions of a UN settlement plan proposed by UN special envoy
Martti Ahtisaari to take effect.
In a report submitted to the Security Council in late March,
Ahtisaari proposed that Kosovo be granted internationally
supervised independence.
(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007)
