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PRISTINA, Serbia - Kosovo Albanian leaders appealed for calm today after two people died in clashes between police and Albanians protesting a UN plan they say falls short of full independence from Serbia.
At least two other protesters were in serious condition after Saturday's clashes in which UN and Kosovo police used tear gas and rubber bullets against Albanians trying to break through barricades around the parliament in Pristina.
The violence underscored Western fears of mass unrest if a decision on the Albanian majority's demand for a Kosovo state does not come soon.
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Agim Ceku met opposition leaders on Sunday and issued a statement condemning the protests, which had brought 3,000 people onto the streets of the capital before turning violent.
They called on "all Kosovo citizens to contribute to the stability of the country, as they have done so far."
"Events such as yesterday's may have negative consequences for the process of forming the Kosovo state," they said.
A UN plan unveiled this month by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari would, if adopted by the UN Security Council, set Kosovo on the path to statehood, eight years after Nato bombs drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control.
Kosovo Albanian leaders have accepted the plan, which provides for a powerful European overseer and self-government and protections for the 100,000 Serbs. But some among the 90-per cent Albanian majority complain it will prolong Kosovo's limbo status and leave Serbia with a permanent foothold.
The protesters called for an independence referendum and rejected talks with Serbia, which in 1998-99 killed 10,000 Albanians and expelled 800,000 in a war with guerrillas.
Police confirmed two deaths overnight. At least two other serious cases had been transferred to hospitals run by the 16,500-strong Nato peace force in Kosovo.
"It is totally regrettable that two lives were lost as a result of wanton breach of security at the government buildings," UN police chief Stephen Curtis said. Police were compelled to take "defensive measures to restore order."
The violence was the worst since March 2004, when 19 people died in Albanian mob riots against Serbs. Western powers said then that Kosovo's uncertain status had become unsustainable and pledged to address its future.
Serbia opposes the amputation of its medieval heartland, but the Albanians living there reject any return to Serb rule.
The United States and the European Union have backed Ahtisaari's blueprint, drafted after months of shuttle diplomacy and fruitless Serb-Albanian talks in 2006.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated on Saturday that Moscow would only support a solution acceptable to both sides -- something Ahtisaari says is virtually impossible.
A final round of Serb-Albanian talks is due to begin on Feb. 21 in Vienna. Ahtisaari hopes to present the plan to the UN Security Council in late March.
- REUTERS
