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Friday, 29 June, 2001, 23:05 GMT 00:05 UK

New mass grave finds in Serbia


A supporter of Milosevic holds a picture of him during a rally outside the Yugoslav parliament building on Friday
Seventy-four men have been found in two mass graves in a village in eastern Serbia, the independent Belgrade-based news agency Beta reported.

The revelations in Petrovo Selo, near the town of Kladovo, came a day after investigators exhumed at least 36 bodies - including those of children - from a mass grave near the capital, Belgrade.

Exhumation site
Beta quoted a local judge, who announced Friday's find, as saying that some of the bodies had wounds almost certainly caused by firearms and some contained bullets.

Judge Milorad Momcilovic did not indicate how old the graves were, or if anything was known about the men's identities. He said exhumation work was continuing and that more bodies may be found.

The bodies revealed on Thursday were thought to be those of Kosovo Albanians removed from Kosovo as part of a cover-up allegedly ordered by former President Slobodan Milosevic during his military campaign in 1999.

The revelations are believed to have swayed public opinion in favour of the extradition of Mr Milosevic to The Hague.

Exhumation continues

The mass graves in Petrovo Selo were first discovered in early June, AFP news agency said.

It quoted investigators as saying the bodies had probably been brought over from Kosovo sometime during the 1999 Nato air war on Yugoslavia.

In May the Serbian Interior Ministry revealed it had evidence that Mr Milosevic had ordered the removal of evidence which would indicate atrocities against civilians.

"Milosevic ordered former Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic to take measures in order to eliminate all the traces which could lead to any evidence of crimes committed," said Dragan Karleusa, a top official at the ministry.

Shocking revelations

Mr Stojiljkovic has also been indicted by the tribunal.

There have been a series of gruesome revelations in the Yugoslav media over recent weeks about mass graves within Serbia's own boundaries.

One lorry driver told Vreme magazine last week of 10 journeys he made from eastern Kosovo into Serbia - on one of which he found his lorry stacked to the ceiling with corpses.


Related to this story:
Milosevic extradition sparks turmoil (29 Jun 01 | Europe) Kosovan children found in mass grave (28 Jun 01 | Europe) Yugoslavia wins US aid breakthrough (27 Jun 01 | Europe) Serbs shocked by mass graves (22 Jun 01 | Europe) Milosevic 'ordered Kosovo cover-up' (25 May 01 | Europe)


Internet links: Serbian Ministry of the Interior | International war crimes tribunal |
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