Bodies of Serbs, non-Albanians taken over

The Government Missing Persons Commission yesterday took over the remains of eight Serbs and non-Albanians at Merdare. The victims were kidnapped and murdered by ethnic Albanians in 1999. An authorized UNMIK commission transferred their bodies to Serbia at the administrative boundary with Kosovo. Bodies of Serbs, non-Albanians taken over "All the eight persons were kidnapped in the course of 1999, and they were murdered after June 10 of that year, following the arrival of KFOR in Kosovo and Metohija," Commission President Veljko Odalovic said in a statement for Tanjug. The bodies of the murdered victims were found over the past several years, Odalovic said. The remains were identified at the Institute for Identification based in Orahovac, which was founded by UNMIK and its Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, he specified. Work on identification resulted in the confirming of identities of two more persons of non-Serb ethnicity, whose bodies were also taken over in Merdare today. According to Odalovic, UNMIK has handed over to the Serbian authorities a total of 272 exhumed and identified bodies since 2001. "We turned over to UNMIK all the 836 bodies of ethnic Albanians killed in Kosovo and Metohija that were exhumed in several locations in the territory of Serbia ," Odalovic specified. The list of the Commission includes a further 554 names, including those of 432 persons kidnapped in Kosovo following the arrival of KFOR on June 10, 1999.

Bodies of Serbs, non-Albanians taken over

"All the eight persons were kidnapped in the course of 1999, and they were murdered after June 10 of that year, following the arrival of KFOR in Kosovo and Metohija," Commission President Veljko Odalović said in a statement for Tanjug.

The bodies of the murdered victims were found over the past several years, Odalović said.

The remains were identified at the Institute for Identification based in Orahovac, which was founded by UNMIK and its Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, he specified.

Work on identification resulted in the confirming of identities of two more persons of non-Serb ethnicity, whose bodies were also taken over in Merdare today.

According to Odalović, UNMIK has handed over to the Serbian authorities a total of 272 exhumed and identified bodies since 2001.

"We turned over to UNMIK all the 836 bodies of ethnic Albanians killed in Kosovo and Metohija that were exhumed in several locations in the territory of Serbia ," Odalović specified.

The list of the Commission includes a further 554 names, including those of 432 persons kidnapped in Kosovo following the arrival of KFOR on June 10, 1999.