( Reuters ) - Polling stations opened in Kosovo on Saturday in a parliamentary election held ahead of a showdown with Serbia on the ethnic Albanian majority's demand for independence.
Whoever wins, the 1.5 million Albanians eligible to vote are sure to elect a government ready to declare an independent state. It could come within weeks of a mediators' report to the United Nations expected to say no agreement can be reached.
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, a former separatist guerrilla leader, is stepping down, and Kosovo's 6 percent Serb minority is boycotting the ballot at the demand of the Serbian government, which bitterly opposes secession.
Polling stations close at 1800 GMT.
