Top officials from Serbia and Kosovo have held a six-hour meeting in Vienna for the first time in two years.

Kosovo is waiting for a UN report by special envoy Kai Eide expected to give the green light to crucial talks on its final status.

Kosovo wants to become independent of Serbia, while Serbia insists it should remain a Serbian province.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, when a Nato campaign ended a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians.
The BBC's Gabriel Partos says Kosovo has agreed to take part in the meeting because a display of willingness to co-operate will suggest it is ready for the UN-backed status talks.

The session - the first ever to deal with political rather than technical matters - reportedly focussed on local government reform and the return of tens of thousands of Serbian refugees who fled after the war.

PHOTO CAPTION

Senior officials from Serbia, left, and Kosovo, right, meet at the Austrian foreign ministry in Vienna, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2005. (AP)