UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday held a closed meeting on Kosovo at a time when talks to determine its final status are still at the technical phase.

    Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy on the status talks, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, told reporters the meeting was important in light of a call from interested States for him to prepare a comprehensive proposal for a settlement and for all possible efforts to be made to achieve a negotiated settlement this year.

    The so-called Contact Group - the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the Russian Federation - had met with Ahtisaari at ministerial level at UN Headquarters earlier this week.

    In his latest report earlier this month, Annan called for more flexibility from all sides in deciding the final status of Kosovo, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1.

    Independence is among options mentioned for the province, but Serbia rejects it. Enditem