The bodies belonged to three boys, aged four, six and seven and four girls, aged six, nine, 10 and 12.

The team of British forensic experts said it was the first time they had found the bodies of children so young in Kosovo.

The children were discovered with the bodies of five adults, two men and three women, near the village of Bella Cerka, near the western Kosovo town of Prizren.

The BBC's Brian Hanrahan: "There's no sense of a national debate in Serbia about mass graves"

Eyewitness accounts of a massacre in the village are included in the International Criminal Tribunal's indictment of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

David Gowan, the UK's war crimes co-ordinator, said that the remains had been "a horrific discovery".

"Forensic evidence indicates that all of them were shot at close range with a bullet to the back of the head," he said.

He added that they had known from eyewitness accounts that children had been massacred at the site but they had not known their ages until today.

Condemnation

The discovery prompted immediate condemnation from the UK's foreign secretary Robin Cook

Robin Cook: Visited war crimes sites

"This touches a new low, even by the dreadful standards set by the Serb forces in Kosovo," said Mr Cook.

"How could anyone put a gun to a four-year-old child and pull the trigger?

"The people who did this are not human.

"These children cannot conceivably have been a danger to anyone, but the Serb forces clearly saw every Albanian of whatever age as an enemy."

Investigators believe that the executions were part of a massacre by Serb forces on 25 March shortly after the start of Nato's bombing of Yugoslavia.

The investigators are also examining witness accounts that 65 men were herded together and shot in a stream on the same day in the same place.

War crimes

Bella Cerka is the first site investigation to be completed and the results are being forwarded to prosecutors led by the Canadian Louise Arbour at the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague.

Ms Arbour, soon to leave the post, has said that the indictments must not be an end in themselves.

The discovery of the bodies followed a statement urging peace by the newly appointed United Nations civilian administrator for Kosovo.

Bernard Kouchner said that he believed reconciliation would be possible between ethnic Albanians and Serbs despite the weight of history.

In an interview with French radio, he said his top priority remained the return of all refugees.

(Click here to see a map showing refugee movements)

The rebuilding of Kosovo had to be directed towards making the returnees feel safe and ensuring they had the basic minimum in terms of food and health care.

Tensions in Pristina

Meanwhile, tensions remain high across the province after British troops said they had acted in self defence after shooting dead two men believed to be ethnic Albanians.

David Gowan: "This strengthens the case against Milosevic"

A K-For spokesman said three soldiers gunned down the men after coming under automatic fire from an approaching car early on Saturday.

Major Jan Joosten, spokesman for K-For, rejected suggestions that the soldiers may have over-reacted.

Eight K-For troops had been guarding a building containing 50 Serbs who were reportedly terrified by Friday's Kosovo Albanian rally marking "Republic Day" - the first celebrations in years of the declaration of the province's indendence amid the collapse of Yugoslavia a decade ago.

In a separate development, the scheduled arrival of a further 100 Russian troops has been postponed after Nato member Hungary refused it access to its air space.

Nato said that the arrival had to be delayed to allow for more planning.

• Albanians shot dead by K-For
• K-For put to the test
• Milosevic indictment: Full text
• Milosevic: "A cancer in the Balkans"