PRISTINA - Details of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia -- in coordination "with our international partners" -- will be finalized Sunday morning, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Saturday.
"The constitution is ready and national symbols are ready," said Thaci in a television interview, as tens of thousands of Kosovars filled the streets of the provincial capital Pristina in anticipation of independence on Sunday.
"Tomorrow morning I will meet with the president (Fatmir Sejdiu) and speaker of the parliament (Jakup Krasniqi) to take a decision on the date and the hour of the declaration of independence," he said.
He also said: "I want to make clear that independence is a closed chapter. We have to focus on the future."
Earlier in the day, Thaci confirmed that independence would be declared on Sunday, telling reporters: "Tomorrow will be a day of calm, of understanding and of state engagements for the implementation of the will of the citizens of Kosovo".
Local media reports Saturday published what they depicted as the official timetable for the declaration of independence that would be made in parliament at around 3:00 p.m. (1400 GMT).
Alluding to the United States and the European Union, Thaci told RTK public television: "Every step will be coordinated with our international partners... Things are going in the direction set by our citizens."
The one-time commander of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army dismissed Serbia's rejection of an independent Kosovo, saying "Belgrade's influence on Kosovo is definitely over".
He went on to pledge that he would protect Kosovo's jittery Serb minority "in all circumstances".
He also said that immediately upon the declaration of independence, his government would set up a foreign ministry and a defense ministry, and that it would apply to join all international institutions.
Thaci gave his television interview as Pristina came alive with music, fireworks and flag-waving by cheerful crowds of ethnic Albanians.
bur/rom/mjs
02/16/2008 21:46 GMT