Reid meets British troops in Kosovo

Britain’s Defence Secretary John Reid arrived in Kosovo today as the province nears possible talks on its future.

Reid met some of the 200 British troops, which are part of the 17,500 strong NATO-led peacekeeping force in the UN-run province at their barracks just outside Pristina.

Later he will meet Kosovo’s top UN official Soren Jessen-Petersen and other international and local officials.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by NATO since 1999. The province remains divided between its ethnic Albanian majority demanding independence and Serbs who want it to remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Talks to resolve the disputed province’s status are likely to start later this year.