Kosovo independence 'weeks away': PM

A former ethnic Albanian rebel leader elected as Kosovo’s prime minister vowed that the province was only weeks away from independence and called on Serbia to give up its claim to the territory.

Kosovo’s parliament elected Hashim Thaci by a vote of 85-22 yesterday to head a coalition government that will try to steer the province through a declaration of independence, a course supported by the US and some European governments, but fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia.