British soldiers arrest suspected Kosovo rebels

Reports from Kosovo say British soldiers have arrested nine suspected armed ethnic Albanian paramilitaries near the province's tense frontier with southern Serbia.

A British army spokesman, Major Tim Pierce, said the armed group was detained on Saturday night after they were challenged by Royal Marines manning an observation post near the village of Zegra.

He said the nine suspected rebels, who were entering United Nations-administered Kosovo from Serbia at the time, wore camouflage uniforms and carried two rifles each.

Last month, NATO brokered an accord between Serbian authorities and the rebels to reduce tension in the border region. Reports say the rebels belong to the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service