Mr Annan met Serb and ethnic Albanian leaders in the capital Pristina after being welcomed by his representative in the province, Bernard Kouchner.

After the talks, the prominent Kosovo Albanian moderate, Ibrahim Rugova, condemned the killing of the UN worker, but said security was getting better.

Paul Wood in Pristina: Balkans visit at a time of great stress for the UN

Former Kosovo Liberation Army political chief Hashim Thaci agreed that security was improving.

He also said he expected a solution to the extended Albanian blockade of the town of Orahovac against the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The Kosovo Serb leader, Momcilo Trajkovic, said his attendance at the meeting with Mr Annan did not mean his community would end its boycott of the multi-ethnic committee which advises the UN.

Mr Trajkovic met Mr Annan, but will still boycott the UN

The Serbs are protesting against the use of disbanded KLA members to form a new civilian Kosovo Protection Corps.

The UN secretary-general was scheduled to visit the town of Gracanica, home of one of the Serb Orthodox church's most revered monasteries, later on Wednesday.

Mr Annan, who did not make any comment after the talks, also met the new German K-For commander General Klaus Reinhardt, who took over command of the 50,000-strong Nato-led peacekeeping force from General Sir Mike Jackson last week.

UN stress

Correspondents say Mr Annan's visit to Kosovo comes at a time of great stress for the UN in Kosovo and for international UN operations in general.

The international presence could end up being seen as the enemy by both sides

Many western officials see the murder of the Bulgarian Valentin Krumov as just the latest sign of a growing intolerance in Kosovan society.

Mr Krumov died in Pristina on Monday after being brutally beaten by a crowd and then shot.

International police said he was killed after speaking Serbian to a group of teenagers when asked the time. He had just arrived in the territory.