Government chief whip Tom Kitt today begins a three-day visit to Kosovo as Irish troops take control of a multinational taskforce in the war-torn Balkan state.

A UN envoy was briefing the US, Russia and key European allies in Austria today on his proposal for the future of Serbia’s independence-minded province of Kosovo.

NATO-LED peacekeepers in riot gear erected barricades, set up checkpoints and parked armoured personnel carriers at strategic locations yesterday to prevent unrest at the funerals for two ethnic Albanian boys whose drowning sparked violence in Kosovo.

Nato-led peacekeepers in full riot gear erected barricades, set up checkpoints and parked armoured personnel carriers at strategic locations today to prevent unrest at the funerals for two ethnic Albanian boys whose drowning sparked violence in Kosovo.

A moderate ethnic Albanian leader declared that his party swept to power in Kosovo’s elections, predicting that official results released today would give the Democratic League of Kosovo control of the Yugoslav province’s 120-seat assembly.