No proof of suspected Kosovo Albanian mass grave, Serbian judge, Red Cross say
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - June 8, 2007, Friday

Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text website on 8 June

Majdan, 8 June: A judge has told journalists there were no traces of a suspected mass grave on the administrative boundary with Kosovo.

Belgrade's War Crimes Court judge, Milan Dilparic, said Friday [8 June] forensic examination of the Rudnica-Majdan site near Raska, had not yielded any evidence that it may contain human remains.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also confirmed that no proof that the site was a mass grave was found. However, the committee's representative, Krasimir Naumov, said this "did not mean the procedure would not be started again."

Chairman of the Government's Missing Persons Commission told the media Belgrade and Pristina cooperated well during the several days of excavation at the site.

The probe into the suspected mass grave that allegedly contained up to 500 bodies of [ethnic] Albanian victims from the 1999 conflict started on Tuesday [5 June].

Several witnesses claimed that at the beginning of June 1999, during the NATO bombing campaign, as many as 350 bodies were transported in four trucks from unknown locations in Kosovo and buried in the Raska region in southern Serbia.

The War Crimes Prosecution filed a request with the District Court to launch an investigation into the allegations in order to determine whether the site in question contained the bodies.

Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1221 gmt 8 Jun 07

Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
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