By Matt Robinson
PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians prepared todeclare independence from Serbia on Sunday at a special sessionof parliament that will end a long chapter in the bloodybreak-up of Yugoslavia.
"Kosovo citizens today await an independent, sovereign anddemocratic country, a state for all with equal rights," PrimeMinister Hashim Thaci told Reuters before summoning theassembly in the capital Pristina.
"It is time to take the decision to make Kosovo a member ofthe community of free nations," he said.
The session was due to start at 3.00 p.m. (2 p.m. Britishtime). Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica scheduled atelevised address to the Serbian people at 4.00 p.m. (3 p.m.British time).
Backed by Russia, Serbs vow never to give up a territory inwhich their history goes back 1,000 years. But the Westsupports the demand of Kosovo's 2 million ethnic Albanians fortheir own state, nine years after NATO went to war to save themfrom Serbian forces.
Kosovo will be the sixth state carved from the formerSerbian-dominated Yugoslav federation since 1991, afterSlovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
Serbs in the north of Kosovo, adjoining Serbia proper, willreject independence, cementing an ethnic partition that willweigh on the new state for years to come. Fewer than half ofKosovo's 120,000 remaining Serbs live in the north, while therest are in scattered enclaves protected by NATO peacekeepers.
Thaci sought to reassure them, saying "Kosovo is thehomeland of all its citizens." He said Kosovo was committed toa Western-backed plan for independence, supervised by theEuropean Union and providing guarantees for the Serb minority.
The EU, which on Saturday endorsed a rule-of-law mission toKosovo, will meet on Monday to discuss the territory'ssecession after years of economic and political limbo as a wardof the United Nations.
The United States and most EU members are expected toquickly recognise Kosovo, despite failing to win a new U.N.Security Council resolution sanctioning the move. Russiablocked its adoption last year.
NEW LIFE
President George W. Bush said the United States, which has1,700 troops in Kosovo's NATO-led force of 16,000, wasdetermined to keep the peace.
"The United States will continue to work with our allies todo the very best we can to make sure there's no violence," hesaid during a visit to Tanzania.
French peacekeepers stepped up security in the flashpointtown of Mitrovica, preparing concrete and razor-wire barriersto keep Serbs and Albanians apart. Small groups of Serbsgathered at the bridge between the Serb north of the town andthe Albanian south.
Snow blanketed Kosovo's capital Pristina after a night ofearly celebration with thousands of Albanians pouring into thestreets ahead of schedule. Banners proclaimed "HappyIndependence".
"Today, a new life begins. The past should not beforgotten, but it belongs to the past, and should be forgiven,"the Kosovo daily Koha Ditore wrote.
"This is the happiest day," said Tahir Bajrami, an elderlyKosovo Albanian who flew from New York to join thecelebrations. "We were prisoners, but this marks a newbeginning."
Ten years ago, Serbian forces were fighting an Albanianguerrilla uprising, killing civilians who got in the way.
Determined to end a decade of humiliation from Belgradeunder the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, the Albaniansfought on until the West, unwilling to sit powerless afterother Balkan bloodbaths, bombed Serbia into submission in 1999.
Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo and the United Nationstook over. The European Union will deploy 2,000 police, judgesand civil administrators over a 4-month transition from theU.N.
Serbia says the mission is illegitimate. It has promisedreprisals against the new state and its backers, but kept themsecret. Analysts believe any trade, diplomatic or bureaucraticblockade will be relatively short-lived.
The head of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo said Serbiashould rally its forces, declare Kosovo "occupied territory"and "buy state of the art weapons from Russia", the Serbiandaily Glas Javnosti reported.
(Additional reporting by Fatos Bytyci, Shaban Buza, DeborahCharles; editing by Andrew Roche)
