PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Islamweb & News Agencies) - The voters of Kosovo have chosen members of a fledgling legislature in a ballot hailed by the West as the first free and democratic general election in the history of the Yugoslav province.It will be several days before official results reveal the exact makeup of the Kosovo assembly but it was clear before Saturday's poll that parties from the ethnic Albanian majority which favors independence would predominate.
International officials made much of the fact that Kosovo Serbs took part in the vote, saying that boded well for reconciliation between two communities on opposing sides of a war in 1999.
The West is also banking on Albanian leaders being content for now with a self-rule plan under which the new assembly can pass laws and choose a Kosovo president and government but which leaves the United Nations and NATO in overall charge.
Western diplomats believe Kosovo Albanian politicians will not want to alienate the international community, which wants Kosovo's status left in limbo for now and has provided huge amounts of political and economic aid to the province.
Pacifist Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo was widely expected to be the largest party in the 120-seat assembly but may fall short of an absolute majority. A unified Serb grouping could win about 20 seats, its leaders said.
Kosovo remains legally part of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia but has been a de facto Western protectorate since NATO's bombing campaign drove out Serb forces in June 1999.
In that time, Kosovo Serbs have been victims of countless attacks by ethnic Albanians. Serbs boycotted local elections last year in protest at their living conditions but Serbian and Yugoslav leaders called on them to take part this time.