Kosovo rebels investigated for war crimes

The United Nations' chief war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, says investigations into alleged atrocities by ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo should lead to indictments later this year.

Mrs Del Ponte - who has just completed a three-day tour of the Western Balkans - said three suspected perpetrators, all members of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, were being investigated.

More than 3,200 Serbs and other non-Albanians went missing between January 1998 and November 2001.

The Kosovo President, Ibrahim Rugova, and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, have both offered to support the Hague tribunal's work, saying that no one is above the law.

During her trip, Mrs Del Ponte also pressed governments in Bosnia and Serbia to hand over war crimes suspects indicted for their role in other Balkan wars.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service