Serbia returns bodies to Kosovo

By Matt Prodger
BBC News, Belgrade

The remains will join others at a mortuary in Kosovo

The bodies of 64 civilians murdered during the Kosovo conflict are being transferred from Serbia to Kosovo.

They are believed to be the remains of ethnic Albanians killed by Serbian security forces and later hidden in an attempt to cover up the crime.

This represents the largest single handover of bodies since the Kosovo war ended in 1999.

The remains were exhumed from a site at a police training ground on the outskirts of Belgrade.

It is one of three mass graves in Serbia where more than 800 bodies have been discovered so far.

Anxious wait

They will be taken to a mortuary in Kosovo where hundreds of other bodies are still awaiting identification.

Nearly 3,000 people are still missing from the conflict. Most of them are ethnic Albanians, but several hundred are Serbs and other non-Albanians.

The bodies of 37 Serb civilians were recently discovered at two mass graves in Kosovo.

Serbian and Kosovo officials resumed talks earlier this year, aimed at establishing the whereabouts of, and returning the missing.

Both sides, Belgrade in particular, have been criticised for dragging their feet and prolonging the suffering of surviving relatives.