The United Nations General Assembly voted, with 77 votes in favour, six against and 74 abstentions, to support a request by Serbia to refer Kosovo's February 2008 unilateral declaration of independence to the International Court of Justice.

The October 8 2008 vote will mean that some time in the next two years, the court will issue an opinion that has advisory and non-binding status on whether the move by Kosovo, which broke away from being a Serbian province, was legal.

The United States, which was one of the primary backers of Serbia's declaration of independence, voted against the Serbian proposal, which is part of a campaign by Belgrade - strongly backed by Russia - against Kosovo independence.

International news agencies said that most European Union countries abstained. While most EU countries have declared that they recognise Kosovo as independent, with Portugal becoming the latest addition on the eve of the UN General Assembly vote, others - Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Greece and Cyprus - supported Serbia.

The EU countries that supported Serbia said that international law should be respected, the BBC reported. Yet, many of the countries sternly opposed to Kosovo having seceded from Serbia have domestic political issues centred around attempted breakaways from their own territories.

The BBC said that Serbia argued that asking the ICJ to give its opinion would actually reduce tensions and promote reconciliation.

Serbian news website B92 reported that Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic urged the representatives of the United Nations to support Serbia's ICJ intiative.

The question which the court is being asked to answer is: "Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?"

Approval of the text by General Assembly required a simple majority.

Jeremic said that the resolution was an attempt by Serbia "to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity through diplomacy and international law."

"To vote against (the resolution) would be in effect to deny the right of any country now or in the future to seek judicial recourse through the United Nations system," Jeremic said, speaking ahead of the vote.

The UK ambassador to the UN, John Sawers, said that he was abstaining because the "Serbian request is primarily for political rather than legal reasons".

"It is designed to slow down Kosovo's emergence as a widely recognised independent nation, playing its part in the international institutions of the world," Sawers said.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kosovo's prime minister Hasim Taci as saying that the sovereignty of Kosovo had been decided and there was nothing Belgrade could do to influence or change it.

"Independence is a closed matter and no initiative from Belgrade could talk us out of it except for some kind of supernatural force," Taci said.

Meanwhile, AFP reported from Ohrid that Macedonia and Montenegro may soon recognise Kosovo as independent.

The agency quoted a Western diplomat as saying on October 8 2008 as saying that Skopje and Podgorica were "on the verge of" recognising Kosovo "in the very near future," the official told reporters in Ohrid, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Neither Macedonian nor Montenegrin officials were ready to confirm the report.

The two former Yugoslav republics and close allies of Serbia have so far delayed their decision to recognise Kosovo, despite mounting international pressure.