EU police arrest ex-Kosovo guerrillas for war crimes

(PRISTINA) - European police in Kosovo on Thursday arrested three former ethnic Albanian guerrillas suspected of committing war crimes against civilians during the 1998-99 conflict, the EU mission said.

EULEX police arrested three persons in an operation this morning. The suspects are charged with war crimes against the civilian population, EU rule of law mission (EULEX) spokesman Blerim Krasniqi told AFP.

Krasniqi would not reveal the identity or nationality of the arrested.

However, local media said the suspects were ethnic Albanians from the northwest region of Drenica, at the time the stronghold of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighting Belgrade security forces loyal to late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the conflict.

They were suspected of killing two ethnic Albanians, supporters of late President Ibrahim Rugova, in June 1999, reports said.

Rugova was opposed to the KLA's armed fight against Serbian rule, opting for peaceful resistance against Belgrade.

The Kosovo war, which claimed around 13,000 victims, ended in June 1999 after a NATO air campaign against Milosevics troops that forced him to retreat from the territory.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and soon afterwards, the EU launched its biggest civilian mission ever to strengthen the rule of law area and tackle the most sensitive cases, notably war crimes.