Serbs may have been killed for organs

BELGRADE – Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor wants to travel to Albania to probe allegations that Kosovo guerillas killed Serb prisoners there years ago and sold their organs.

Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said yesterday his office has asked Albanian prosecutors to look into the case and talks are under way to determine when he will go there himself. Albania could have mass graves containing the remains of slain Serbs, he added.Kosovo and Albania have denied any knowledge of the crimes, while the EU has said it would investigate the claims.Allegations of organ-trafficking involving Serbs killed during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war first surfaced in a book by the former chief United Nations war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.In ‘The Hunt: War Criminals and Me’, Del Ponte wrote that, according to her sources, between 100 and 300 mostly Serb civilians were transported by truck from Kosovo to a house near the Albanian town of Burrel, about 90 kilometres north of the capital, Tirana.Kosovo guerillas killed the Serbs and doctors allegedly extracted the captives’ internal organs, Del Ponte wrote.Thousands of people were killed in Kosovo as Serb security troops cracked down on ethnic Albanian separatists.The conflict ended after Nato bombed Serbia in 1999 to force it to stop attacks on ethnic Albanian civilians.Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February.Its independence has been recognized by over 40 countries, including the US and most EU nations, but is fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia.Nampa-APAlbania could have mass graves containing the remains of slain Serbs, he added.Kosovo and Albania have denied any knowledge of the crimes, while the EU has said it would investigate the claims.Allegations of organ-trafficking involving Serbs killed during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war first surfaced in a book by the former chief United Nations war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte.In ‘The Hunt: War Criminals and Me’, Del Ponte wrote that, according to her sources, between 100 and 300 mostly Serb civilians were transported by truck from Kosovo to a house near the Albanian town of Burrel, about 90 kilometres north of the capital, Tirana.Kosovo guerillas killed the Serbs and doctors allegedly extracted the captives’ internal organs, Del Ponte wrote.Thousands of people were killed in Kosovo as Serb security troops cracked down on ethnic Albanian separatists.The conflict ended after Nato bombed Serbia in 1999 to force it to stop attacks on ethnic Albanian civilians.Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February.Its independence has been recognized by over 40 countries, including the US and most EU nations, but is fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia.Nampa-AP