Kosovo minister quits over deaths

Many ethnic Albanians demand outright independence

The Interior Minister of Kosovo, Fatmir Rexhepi, has resigned after two ethnic Albanian demonstrators died of injuries sustained in clashes on Saturday.

The two were hurt when Kosovo and UN police fired teargas and rubber bullets to stop a crowd storming government buildings in the capital, Pristina.

The demonstration was organised by Self-Determination, a movement campaigning for immediate independence.

It is impatient with UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's gradualist approach.

Meanwhile, the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, said he had phoned the Nato Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, to ask for greater Nato protection for the Serb minority in Kosovo.

Three years ago, riots killed 19 people on both sides of the ethnic divide.

Many ethnic Albanians are unhappy that the UN plan for Kosovo falls short of granting full independence to the breakaway Serbian province.

Kosovo has been administered by the UN since the 1999 conflict, in which a violent Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanians triggered a Nato bombing campaign and Serbian withdrawal.

The proposals, unveiled on 2 February by Mr Ahtisaari, recommend a form of supervised self-rule - which is itself strongly opposed by Serbia.

The UN has agreed to delay talks on its proposals until 21 February, at the request of Serbia's President Tadic.