Two die as UN plan sparks Kosovo riots

Serbia:Kosovo's leaders pleaded for calm yesterday after two people were killed in riots against a United Nations plan to give the province only "conditional" independence from Serbia.

Local and UN police used tear gas and rubber bullets on Saturday to disperse some 3,000 protesters from around the government building in central Pristina.

Martti Ahtisaari, the UN envoy for Kosovo, angered Belgrade and the province's 100,000 Serbs by proposing that it be granted many of the trappings of statehood, including its own flag, anthem, army and constitution; he also enraged some Kosovars, however, by failing to promise them full independence and by offering a large degree of autonomy to Serb communities.

"We're demonstrating against Ahtisaari's package, which does not reflect the will of the people of Kosovo, but only the privileges of one minority, the Serb minority, which is being manipulated by Serbia," said Albin Kurti, the leader of protest group Self-Determination.

Chanting "No negotiation - self-determination", rioters threw rocks and sticks at police lines, smashed windows and overturned a UN car before being dispersed. Mr Kurti was arrested on Saturday evening, activists said.

"It is totally regrettable that two lives were lost as a result of wanton breach of security at the government buildings," UN police commissioner Stephen Curtis said yesterday. "The demonstrators . . . compelled the police to take defensive measures."

President Fatmir Sejdiu and prime minister Agim Ceku said such events "may have negative consequences for the process of forming the Kosovo state".