The American envoy, Christopher Hill, is continuing his efforts to start negotiations on a political settlement to the conflict in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

Mr Hill met the ethnic Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, in the provincial capital, Pristina, to discuss details of a draft agreement on restoring self-government to Kosovo.

Mr Hill arrived in Pristina from Belgrade where he held talks yesterday with the Serbian President, Milan Milutinovic.Mr Hill said the expiry yesterday of a deadline offered by Serbia for an interim settlement did not matter, as progess was being made on key issues in the talks.