SARAJEVO (AFP) -- Bosnia's electoral commission Friday rejected demands to accredit Kosovo monitors to oversee October 5 local elections here after initially inviting them to do so.

""The request to accredit monitors from the electoral commission of Kosovo had been rejected,"" spokeswoman Maksida Bajramovic said.
Earlier this week Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik slammed the poll commission for inviting monitors from Kosovo.
However, Bajramovic explained that the invitation was sent in May to then-chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Tim Guldimann who was at the time also Kosovo commission chair.
Since then a Kosovar has taken over the function in the electoral commission there, she said.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February and has since been recognized by 47 countries.
But Serbia -- together with Bosnia's Serb-run half and Russia -- maintains the move violates international law and continue to regard Kosovo as a province of Serbia.
Bosnia did not recognize Kosovo as the issue sparked tensions among its ethnic communities.