Serbia to start war crimes trials

More mass graves have been unearthed in Serbia

By Ray Furlong in Belgrade

Serbia's Justice Minister, Vladan Batic, has said war crimes trials will start in Belgrade next week.

However, he declined to reveal any further details, such as who would stand trial, or on what charges.

Mr Batic, part of a reformist government which came to power after Slobodan Milosevic was ousted last October, was speaking after a meeting of his Christian Democratic party leadership.

Mr Batic's comments have caused uncertainty

"Trials of our citizens for war crimes will start before our courts next week," he said.

It was unclear whether he was referring to the people indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague, including the Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, or to others.

Mr Batic recently announced that, following Mr Milosevic's extradition to the Hague, no one else would be handed over.

But other cabinet colleagues said there had been no discussion of this and that it was a view they didn't share.

Uncertainty

So Mr Batic's latest remarks do little to clear up the uncertainty over how Yugoslavia will deal with the remaining war crimes suspects.

Meanwhile, the fallout from Mr Milosevic's extradition is still being felt.

It caused the Yugoslav federal government to collapse and talks are continuing on forming a new one, also with uncertain prospects for success.

Mr Batic was also quoted by Belgrade independent radio B-92 as saying investigators would question 58 Serbs next month about alleged crimes committed by ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas.