http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7455171.stm
UN hands over to Kosovo Albanians By Nick Thorpe BBC News, Pristina A new constitution has come into force in Kosovo, after the territory declared independence from Serbia in February. Majority ethnic Albanian authorities will now run the territory although it remains unclear who will oversee Kosovo's Serb-dominated areas. The government will assume many of the powers held up till now by the UN. The European Union is to deploy several missions to Kosovo and will take on a supervisory role in a move opposed by Serbia and Russia. The new constitution is a milestone event in the history of Kosovo, but there will be none of the festivities which marked the declaration of independence four months ago. Authority's boundaries The leaders of the majority-Albanian province do not want to provoke the Serb minority, which remains bitterly opposed to independence. Instead, a simple and low-key ceremony is expected early on Sunday evening in a Pristina sports hall, attended by members of the government. Earlier in the day, in the predominantly Serb north, the minister for Kosovo in the outgoing Serbian government, Slobodan Samardzic, is expected to announce that a new, rival Serb Parliament will be formed at the end of this month. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday spelt out his vision of how the country should now be run in letters to the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina. But much confusion remains over exactly who will exercise local authority and where the boundaries of that authority will lie in different parts of Kosovo in the future. Published: 2008/06/15 00:00:07 GMT <http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=14871632/grpspId=1705043917/msgI d=35124/stime=1213493521/nc1=5286668/nc2=5191955/nc3=5370602> __,_._,___
