U.N. to set out Kosovo autonomy plan

PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- The United Nations says its special representative in Kosovo will announce measures for the international body to step back from its governing role in the province.

Special Representative to the U.N. Secretary-General Hans Haekkerup plans to address the people of Kosovo on Monday outlining an election date, set for later this year, and the constitutional framework that will transfer power from the international body to the people of Kosovo.

AUDIO Hans Haekkerup, UN Special Representative: Kosovo to solve its own problems 980K/90 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The announcement will be the latest in a series of provisions set up by U.N. resolution 1244 to provide autonomy for the province.

Under the new step, the people of Kosovo will vote for a 120-member assembly, that will choose the president of the region.

"What's really exciting is that there are real provisions made for the minority community, " says Stacia Philips-Deshishku, spokeswoman for the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Philips-Deshishku says 10 seats on the assembly are set aside for the Serb community and 10 seats for minority groups, including Ashkali, Egyptian, Turkish, Bosniac and Gorani.

The rest of the 120 seats will be determined by the voters.

Haekkerup has met with leaders from the Kosovar Albanian and Serb communities to set up the process of government.

The United Nations will still retain its role in policing the region, after the new government is formed.

Kosovo, a province of Yugoslav Federal Republic of Serbia, has been under U.N. and NATO control since 1999, following a bombing campaign by the Western alliance to force Yugoslav troops to withdraw and end a crackdown on ethnic Albanians.

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United Nations Mission in Kosovo
Human Rights Watch: Kosovo
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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