KOSOVO: EU OBSERVERS TO CHECK OUT MASS GRAVE REPORTS скачать в хорошем качестве

KOSOVO: EU OBSERVERS TO CHECK OUT MASS GRAVE REPORTS

(5 Aug 1998) Serbo-Croat/Nat The European Union has sent observers to check reports of mass graves in the Kosovo town of Orahovac . Ethnic Albanian sources claim one site - at a rubbish dump - contains fresh graves that had been levelled by bulldozers. But the Yugoslav Interior Minister for the Kosovo Region, Colonel Bozidar Filic, denied reports of a slaughter of Albanians by the Serbs - saying the bodies had been buried properly after no family members came to reclaim them. At least 36 bodies, believed to be ethnic Albanians, have been buried at a site outside the town of Orahovac. The town - about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of Pristina - was captured by Serb forces after heavy fighting on July 20. Albanian reports claim the remains are those of ethnic Albanian civilians. Albanian media reported the bodies were found buried at a garbage dump, which had been levelled by bulldozers - and then covered with rubbish. At least 60 civilians have been killed in four-day fighting in Orahovac which fell into Serb hands on July 20, according to the Pristina-based Committee For the Protection of Human Rights. There have been a number of reports by the ethnic Albanian media on alleged sites of mass graves, but they have not been independently verified. The Serbian-run media centre in Kosovo organised the convoy of reporters to Orahovac to investigate the reports. Journalists were clearly disturbed by the site and smell of the grave-site. But the Yugoslav Interior Minister for the Kosovo Region has vehemently denied reports of slaughter of ethnic Albanians. He claimed the bodies had been buried properly and in accordance with religious practices. SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) "This is not a mass grave, those are the bodies of terrorists properly buried in accordance with the law at the Moslem cemetery with names. It is not a mass grave. Q. How many are there? A. Forty at the Moslem graveyard in Orahovac and another eleven at the Moslem cemetery in Prizren." SUPER CAPTION: Interior minister for Kosovo region Colonel Bozidar Filic Information from the E-U team is not expected until late on Wednesday. Meanwhile, fighting continued on Wednesday between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serb security forces in the central Kosovo region of Drenica. The continued fighting has stymied plans to send an international aid convoy to another devastated former rebel stronghold. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...