Serb court jails 143 ethnic Albanians

A Serbian court has sentenced 143 ethnic Albanians to jail terms ranging from seven to 13 years for "terrorism".

Judge Goran Petronijevic was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying the accused had been jailed for committing the "criminal act of terrorism" during Nato's air campaign last year to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo.

The group was accused of forming a unit of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the western Kosovo town of Djakovica in April 1999 and attacking Serb forces.

The trial took place in the southern Serbian city of Nis.