Ex-rebels arrested on war crimes charges
AFP - October 28, 2003

PRISTINA -- Tuesday - United Nations police have confirmed the arrest of five Kosovo Albanians suspected of war crimes during the province’s 1998-99 war.

“Five Kosovo Albanian men have been arrested under warrants relating to war crimes,” UN police spokesman Dimitri Priakhin told AFP.

Local media said the five, who were arrested in southern Kosovo on Monday, were suspected of kidnapping, serious bodily harm and the murder of four fellow Albanians in early 1999. They are believed to have been members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

This is the second case of war crimes charges by a local court against former rebel members.

In July a Kosovo district court found four former ethnic Albanian rebels guilty of war crimes and sentenced them to between five and 17 years in prison.

Copyright 2003 AFP
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