April 22, 2007 9:15 AM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Thousands of Serb refugees will gather next week at the boundary with Kosovo to tell a U.N. delegation visiting the contested province that they still hope to return to homes they were forced to flee after the 1998-99 war.

The visiting delegation is tasked with gathering firsthand information on the situation in Kosovo before the Security Council makes a final decision on a proposal by a U.N. envoy to grant Kosovo independence from Serbia but keep it under international supervision.

The Serb refugees want to show the diplomats, who are expected to be in Belgrade on Thursday and Kosovo on Friday, that they have been unable to return to the province, said Nenad Popovic, who leads a Serbian government body that deals with Kosovo.

About 200,000 Serbs fled or were forced to flee during a period of revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians that followed the war between Serb forces and armed separatists. Only small numbers have come back and had their homes rebuilt. Some of the returnees have faced attacks.

Those Serbs remaining in the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory live in isolated enclaves under NATO protection.

Serbs, who oppose independence for Kosovo, are also concerned that minority Serbs in the territory will not have adequate security or rights and that there will remain no freedom of movement for them outside of their guarded enclaves.

Tensions between the two communities persist despite international efforts at reconciliation. Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers since the end of the war.

U.N. authorities in Kosovo say the situation has improved in recent years, although they acknowledged that the problems remain.

The U.N. proposal, drafted by chief envoy Martti Athisaari and backed by the United States and its Western allies, envisages that Kosovo be allowed to separate from Serbia, but remain under international supervision. It would also be allowed to assemble its own army and have its own constitution.

The plan also has faced criticism from Russia, setting stage for a possible showdown at the Security Council between Washington and Moscow.

Last week, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said in Belgrade that Ahtisaari's plan has failed and called for more talks between the two sides.

Lavrov and his Serbian hosts also insisted that the U.N. assessment mission visit the isolated Serb settlements guarded by NATO during its stay in Kosovo.

"Members of the mission should see for themselves how these people live surrounded by barbed wire," Popovic said.

He added that the refugees, who plan to wait for the delegation at one of the border crossings with Kosovo, "only want to tell them they want to return to their homes, be safe and have the right to work."

"It is unimaginable that someone has to seek that in 21st century," Popovic said.