PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - Ethnic Albanian officials in the troubled Serbian province of Kosovo warned Tuesday that they could boycott talks with their Serb counterparts slated for later this week. It is by no means certain that the Albanians will accept to meet this Friday with the Serb delegation because of the worsening situation and ongoing serbian repression in Kosovo, an aide to Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova said.

The aide, who requested anonymity, said that a meeting of fellow advisers to Rugova on Tuesday had broken up without agreement on whether to attend what would have been the first of a series of talks on Kosovo's future. Negotiations between the two sides were agreed at a meeting last week of Rugova and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic which itself was brokered by the United States. Since March, Kosovo has descended into a near war-like situation with armed ethnic Albanian groups controlling parts of the province while Yugoslav troops and special police units have been sent in to contain the situation.

Clashes between ethnic Albanians and the Serbian authorities have left more than 100 people dead including a number of Serb police. The international community has been pressing Yugoslavia to open talks with the ethnic Albanians in order to avert what it fears could be another Balkan conflict. On Tuesday, Russia welcomed the decision the previous day not to impose a ban on investment in Yugoslavia by the six nation Contact Group which steers policy in the volatile Balkans. Britain, one of the group's members along with Russia, France, Italy, the United States and Germany, said Monday that the ban, agreed to a week earlier, would not be implemented following Milosevic's meeting with Rugova. (AFP)