October 22, 2007

Keep their troops in Kosovo

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for NATO members to keep their troops in Kosovo after a December 10 deadline for a decision on the future of the disputed province. Talks run by the European Union, Russia and the United States are due to be concluded by December 10 under a deadline set by the UN Security Council. Russia backs Serbia's opposition to US and EU calls for independence for the breakaway Serbian province. The province, whose ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the population, has been administered by a UN mission since mid-1999, after a NATO bombing campaign ended the brutal crackdown by Serbian forces against Albanian separatists.

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