Kosovo Eager for Freedom's Ring

Site contains bodies of ethnic Albanians

(NEWSER) - The bodies of hundreds of people believed to be ethnic Albanian victims of atrocities in the late '90s have been found buried under a parking lot in Serbia. The site near the Kosovan border is believed to contain the bodies of 250 Kosovo Albanians, according to Serbian authorities. The bodies—buried at a site belonging to a state-owned road company—were found after a tip-off to war crimes investigators, the Guardian reports. More»

(AP) - Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in Kosovo's capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton today as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name. Clinton is celebrated as a hero by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority for launching NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 that stopped the brutal Serb forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. More»

But UN wants ethnic Albanian leader freed

(AP) - Bulgarian authorities have detained a former Kosovo prime minister on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at Serbia's request, reports the AP. Agim Ceku, PM between 2006 and 2008, is wanted for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1998-1999 war when he was military chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army, made up of ethnic Albanian guerrillas. His arrest comes despite repeated requests from UN that the charges be dropped. More»

Five others convicted of roles in Kosovo violence

(NEWSER) - A UN tribunal acquitted former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic today of war crimes during the late-1990s conflict in Kosovo, the BBC reports. Milutinovic, the titular leader of Serbia in 1997-2002, did not have direct control of the Yugoslav army during the campaign of violence committed against Kosovar Albanians, the tribunal ruled. More»

But defense sec says US troops will remain

(NEWSER) - The US will maintain its current troop levels in Kosovo until at least the end of 2009, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His trip to Kosovo is the first by an American cabinet member since the republic declared independence in February. The move of support is meant to show Russia—which does not recognize Kosovo's independence—that its actions in Georgia have had consequences, writes the New York Times. More»