Albanian triumph and Serb anger as Kosovo secedes

By Douglas Hamilton

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians will proclaim independence from Serbia on Sunday, ending a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.

Kosovo will be the 6th state carved from the Serb-dominated federation since 1991, after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro, and the last to escape Serbia's embrace.

The Serbs vow never to give up the land where their history goes back 1,000 years.

They will reject independence in defiance of the Albanians and their Western backers and will keep their grip on strongholds in northern Kosovo, making the ethnic partition of the new state a reality from the start.

"The influence of Belgrade has ended," Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said. "The success of Kosovo's independence as a new beginning will be clearly measured by respect for the rights of minorities, especially Serbs," the former guerrilla promised.

Triumphant celebrations began hours ahead of the declaration by parliament due on Sunday afternoon. The snowy streets of the capital were packed late into the night. Cavalcades of cars circled with horns blaring and Albanian flags in every hand.

Ten years ago this week, Serb forces fought an Albanian guerrilla uprising, killing civilians who got in the way. Major Western powers were calling for talks. Russia backed Serbia in its battle with "terrorists".

Determined to end a decade of humiliation from Belgrade under the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, the Albanians fought on until the West, unable to sit powerless after other Balkan bloodbaths, bombed Serbia into submission in 1999.