The troika of major powers leading new talks on Kosovo said that partition of the breakaway territory, once taboo, could be an option if Serbs and Albanians agreed to it.

Western policy on Kosovo previously ruled out partition, arguing it could spark regional conflict. Any division would be likely to leave the northern slice - where about half of Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs live - as part of Serbia.

"It is the principle of the troika to be prepared to endorse any agreement which both parties manage to achieve. That includes all options," the European Union's envoy, Wolfgang Ischinger, told a news conference.

Asked if that included splitting the territory in two, he replied: "If they want that."

Both Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians have said they do not want partition, but have also shown no sign of conceding on the main issue - Kosovo's independence. "We are urging both sides to think outside the box," said Mr Ischinger. "If both sides repeat their classic positions, there is little hope for compromise or bridge-building."

He said an agreed solution presented to the UN Security Council would be in the best interests of all concerned.

The troika comprises envoys from the US, the EU and Russia in what the West hopes will be a final push for compromise on the fate of the Albanian-majority Serb province.

Diplomats say it may only buy time before Kosovo declares independence unilaterally, eight years after Nato wrested control of the territory from Slobodan Milosevic's Serbia.

Western diplomats have argued that splitting Kosovo in two could revive insurgencies among ethnic Albanians in Serbia's southern Presevo Valley and neighbouring Macedonia, ended in 2001 by EU and Nato diplomacy.

But partition has been on the lips of commentators for months as a possible - albeit risky - way out of the impasse. Some analysts say Serbia is privately banking on it, and Mr Ischinger's comments appeared to break the ice. Kosovo has been run by the UN since 1999, when Nato bombed to drive out Serb forces and halt the killing and expulsion of Albanians in a two-year separatist war.

Serbia has offered autonomy, but no suggestion of how it would integrate, let alone police, two million hostile Albanians - 90 per cent of the population. Nato powers leading 16,000 troops in the province fear unrest if the West is seen to renege on its promise of independence.

Kosovo leaders told the troika on Saturday they expected independence in 2007. They have threatened to declare independence unilaterally and seek recognition from Western powers, a move certain to split the 27-member EU.

The troika is due to the UN by December 10.