WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States welcomed on Friday the plan put forward by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari for the status of Serbia's Kosovo as "fair and balanced."

    "The Untied States thanks UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari forhis efforts to produce a Comprehensive Proposal for Kosovo Status Settlement. The Settlement Proposal ... is fair and balanced," the State Department said in a statement.

    "It is a blueprint for a stable, prosperous and multiethnic Kosovo," the statement added.

    The statement came after Ahtisaari handed the settlement proposal to Serbian President Boris Tadic in Belgrade on Friday. It suggests that Kosovo will not return to Serbian rule and will obtain legal status that permits other countries to eventually recognize it as an independent state.

    Kosovo has been run by the UN mission since 1999 when NATO bombings forced the late Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces, who was accused of killing 10,000 ethnic Albanians during a counter-insurgency war. The province of 2 million is cherished by Serbia for its cultural and religious heritage.