Serbia accuses U.N. envoy of bias

BELGRADE, Serbia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday accused a U.N. envoy of bias in favor of ethnic Albanians in the disputed province of Kosovo.

Kostunica said Tuesday the Belgrade government will undertake diplomatic action to inform the international community of "serious prejudices" he claims U.N. Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari has about Serbian people, Belgrade's FoNet news agency reported.

Kostunica has blamed Ahtisaari for saying, "the Serbs are guilty as a people," and therefore the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province should become independent of Belgrade.

Ahtisaari has also said it was important to take into account the historical legacy of the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, whose security forces reportedly persecuted ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo.

"Every nation in the world has a burden for which it has to pay," Ahtisaari said last week.

Since February, Ahtisaari has been leading talks between Serbs and ethnic-Albanians to decide who will govern the province once the U.N. administration and NATO personnel leave.