Fatmir Sejdiu has been elected as the new President of Kosovo.

The 54-year-old political moderate replaces Ibrahim Rugova, who died of lung cancer last month.

The 120-seat parliament voted 80 to 12 to elect Sejdiu, a longtime Rugova ally and a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

The move clears the way for direct Serb-Albanian negotiations on the fate of the province, which has been run by the United Nations over the past seven years.

The two sides are due to come together this month for the first time since the UN launched a process late last year to resolve Kosovo's economic and political limbo.

Postponed following the death of Rugova, the talks are due to be held in Vienna on February 20.

Western diplomats were keen for Kosovo's Albanian leaders to quickly fill the vacuum left by Rugova, who championed the drive for independence for 16 years.

They feared a messy power-struggle could disrupt the negotiations, which seem to be heading for a form of independence for Kosovo under continued international supervision.

Legally part of Serbia, the province of 2 million people has been run by the UN since 1999, when NATO drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

Although 90 percent of the population are ethnic Albanians pushing for independence, Serbia says such an outcome is unthinkable.

PHOTO CAPTION

Kosovo's new President Fatmir Sejdiu makes his first speech in Kosovo Parliament in Pristina, Kosovo, on Friday, Feb. 10, 2006. (AP)