"Independent investigation, no special court"

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic says he commented on the Kosovo organ trafficking during his current visit to the U.S. Dacic, who is also the first deputy PM, said he voiced his Serbia's expectation during the Thursday meeting with U.S. officials in Washington that an independent investigation would be launched with regard to the report on illegal human organ trafficking in Kosovo, although the country does not expect a special court to be constituted for the purpose. "Independent investigation, no special court" Dacic told Serbian reporters in Washington that he voiced Serbia's expectations with regard to an independent investigation into Dick Marty's report and that he expressed the country's stand that the process of the European integration and the talks regarding the Kosovo issue should take parallel tracks. He pointed out that during the meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman, he stated that Serbia does not oppose the idea of the investigation being carried out by EULEX but that the real question is whether EULEX has the capacity to do so on its own. According to Dacic, "EULEX would need to have much greater jurisdiction to carry out such an investigation, since it implies that an investigation needs to be conducted not only in Serbia and its southern province, but also in other countries, such as Albania, Turkey, Israel and Russia". "Serbia does not expect a special court and bureaucracy to be established for this case, but it believes that some kind of an independent investigation would be in the common interest of everyone, including the U.S. and Serbia, as it would eliminate the suspicion that somebody is trying to cover up the case," Dacic underlined. According to him, U.S. officials he conferred with, who believe that the investigation is EULEX's job, "expressed wish for the case to be cleared up and added that this issue is one of the topics that they still need to discuss with their European partners". The investigation, called for in a PACE resolution adopted in January, should find out if the Serbs kidnapped in Kosovo by the ethnic Albanian KLA in 1999 and 2000 were illegally imprisoned in northern Albania and had their body parts harvested for sale in the black market. Dacic is currently visiting the U.S. on the occasion of the traditional Prayer Breakfast. During his stay in Washington, the Serbian minister conferred with several U.S. officials. Dacic in Washington (Tanjug)

"Independent investigation, no special court"

Dačić told Serbian reporters in Washington that he voiced Serbia's expectations with regard to an independent investigation into Dick Marty's report and that he expressed the country's stand that the process of the European integration and the talks regarding the Kosovo issue should take parallel tracks.

He pointed out that during the meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman, he stated that Serbia does not oppose the idea of the investigation being carried out by EULEX but that the real question is whether EULEX has the capacity to do so on its own.

According to Dačić, "EULEX would need to have much greater jurisdiction to carry out such an investigation, since it implies that an investigation needs to be conducted not only in Serbia and its southern province, but also in other countries, such as Albania, Turkey, Israel and Russia".

"Serbia does not expect a special court and bureaucracy to be established for this case, but it believes that some kind of an independent investigation would be in the common interest of everyone, including the U.S. and Serbia, as it would eliminate the suspicion that somebody is trying to cover up the case," Dačić underlined.

According to him, U.S. officials he conferred with, who believe that the investigation is EULEX's job, "expressed wish for the case to be cleared up and added that this issue is one of the topics that they still need to discuss with their European partners".

The investigation, called for in a PACE resolution adopted in January, should find out if the Serbs kidnapped in Kosovo by the ethnic Albanian KLA in 1999 and 2000 were illegally imprisoned in northern Albania and had their body parts harvested for sale in the black market.

Dačić is currently visiting the U.S. on the occasion of the traditional Prayer Breakfast. During his stay in Washington, the Serbian minister conferred with several U.S. officials.