Albania should allow probe of alleged organ trafficking: UN envoy

(TIRANA) - Albania should allow an independent probe of the alleged trafficking of organs taken from Serbs prisoners in the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict, a UN rapporteur said Tuesday.

"Albania should be open to an independent investigation as this issue seems to be stalled," Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, told reporters in Tirana.

Last year, Albania rejected Serbia's request for a probe of allegations that ethnic Albanian rebels kidnapped and killed up to 500 Kosovo Serbs in Albania in order to sell their organs abroad.

The request was based on evidence and testimonies from more than 130 witnesses collected by the Serbian war crimes prosecution office.

Alston, who was in Albania for a week-long mission focused on unlawful killings and blood feuds, told reporters that Tirana authorities "strongly believe that the allegations are politically motivated, and absolutely without any foundation."

"On this basis, none of the efforts to investigate have received meaningful cooperation on the side of the government of Albania," Alston said, adding that he had met with a "game of bureaucratic and diplomatic ping pong."

He explained that "all Albanian officials I have met with consider the claims, charges of (Serb) killings as ridiculous."

"If it is ridiculous, in order to get rid of this issue, make available a proposal for an independent investigation and offer genuine cooperation," Alston urged.

Alston said it would be better if the investigation were conducted by independent experts as a probe by "concerned parties could harm independence and objectivity."

The claims first arose in the memoirs of former UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, which prompted the Council of Europe to reopen the case briefly investigated by her office six years ago.

In the book "Madame Prosecutor", Del Ponte wrote that there were allegations that some 300 mainly Serb prisoners were kidnapped and transported from Kosovo to Albania, where their organs were removed for sale to foreign clinics before they were killed.

The conflict between Kosovo ethnic Albanian separatists and forces loyal to late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic left around 10,000 people dead.

More than 1,900 missing are still unaccounted for in connection with the Kosovo conflict, including up to 500 Serbs and other non-Albanians.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Belgrade in February 2008, and has been recognised by 65 countries, including the United States and all but five EU member states.

Serbia considers Kosovo a breakaway southern province and has asked the International Court of Justice to rule on the territory's status.