Serbia says Kosovo Albanians should not speak at U.N.

Serbia has asked the U.N. Security Council to ensure Kosovo Albanian leaders cannot speak at a critical December 19 meeting on the future of the breakaway province, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The council meeting that day will take up a report due to be submitted on Monday on international mediators' efforts to bridge the gap between Serbia's offer of broad autonomy and the Kosovo Albanian demand for full independence.

Leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority, backed by Washington and EU member states, say they will declare independence within months now that last-ditch talks have failed to reach agreement.

Serbia's main ally Russia, which opposes independence and has blocked previous Security Council action on Kosovo, insisted this week the council should have the final word on the future of the province.

In a letter to the Italian president of the council dated Tuesday and obtained by Reuters, Serbian Ambassador Pavle Jevremovic officially requested that Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica attend and make a statement at the December 19 meeting.

In the letter to Italian Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, Jevremovic said that under existing constitutional arrangements for Kosovo, its representatives could attend Security Council meetings but without the right to speak.

"I would appreciate if you ensured full respect for the provisions," he said.

Washington and most EU states see Kosovo's independence from Serbia as the best option for stability in the Balkans.

Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council, has already blocked one Western-backed independence plan.

Kosovo has been under U.N. rule since 1999, when NATO bombs expelled Serb forces accused of the killing and ethnic cleansing of Albanian civilians while battling separatist rebels.

Almost 18 months of negotiations, led first by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, have failed to produce compromise.

Spatafora told a news briefing on Tuesday that council members would wait until they see the December 10 report on the most recent U.S., Russian and EU mediation efforts before deciding on the next steps.