Military intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is necessary to resolve conflicts between Yugoslav government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in Serbia's Kosovo Province, the prime minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina reportedly told Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi on Wednesday.

Haris Silajdzic also said high-level autonomy should be given to the province but Kosovo's independence should not be allowed, ministry officials said. Obuchi told Silajdzic he is greatly interested in the Kosovo situation, they said.

In Kosovo, ethnic Albanians are demanding independence from Serbia, a republic in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, Silajdzic told Obuchi that Bosnia hopes to expand relations with Japan to establish an equal partnership, according to the officials. He also said he hopes to see increased investment from Japan's private sector, the officials said.

Obuchi responded that he will encourage Japanese companies to invest in Bosnia but added that Bosnia needs to make efforts to reconstruct its economy to increase investment.