A decision to that effect was made at a Contact Group meeting in Vienna, Reuters said, adding that the Group had previously promised to the Albanian majority in the UN-administered province that a decision would be adopted by the end of the year.
Ahtisaari said in a statement he decided to postpone the decision on Kosovo's status until after the Serbian election in light of Serbian President Boris Tadic's announcement that a parliamentary ballot would be held on 21 January 2007 and after today's consultations with the Contact Group.
News agencies said the group's diplomats were sympathetic to the Albanian majority's demand for an independent state but did not wish their decision to boost support to the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party.