Serbs reject Kosovo independence

VIENNA, July 24 (UPI) -- A summit on Kosovo's future began Monday with Serbia once again rejecting independence for its mainly ethnic-Albanian province.

"The sooner the dangerous idea of creating a new state on Serbian territory is forgotten the better for all," Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica told the U.N.-chaired summit in the Vienna, Belgrade's B92 radio-television reported.

This was the first time Serbian and ethnic-Albanian leaders took part in face-to-face talks since 1999, when NATO air raids stopped Serbian forces' crackdown on ethnic-Albanian separatists.

Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian Premier Agim Ceku told the one-day meeting he was in Vienna not to "demand recognition from Serbia, but from the international community," the BBC said.

Marti Ahtisaari, the chief U.N. Kosovo envoy, led the summit, attended by presidents Boris Tadic of Serbia and Fatmir Sejdiu of Kosovo.

The leaders of ethnic-Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population, insist on independence from Belgrade, while the Belgrade leaders want to keep Kosovo as part of Serbia, offering some autonomy for the province.