PRISHTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Kosovo's parliament has tentatively agreed to convene Friday to decide whether Lt. Gen. Agim Ceku will become the province's next prime minister, officials said.

The Serbian government, which accuses Ceku of war crimes, has failed in a bid to have the U.N. mission in Kosovo block his appointment. Belgrade says a Ceku administration would endanger ongoing talks on Kosovo's future.

Kosovo's ruling coalition holds a slim majority in the province's assembly, indicating that Ceku's appointment will be approved.

Ceku, 44, sided with Croatia's army in the fight against Serbs during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Serbian officials have issued an arrest warrant for him, but he denies any wrongdoing.

Kosovo has been a de-facto U.N. protectorate since the end of the 1998-99 war there between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serb forces. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority insist on full independence, but Serbs want Belgrade to retain control over it.