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World|politics|April 24, 2014 / 10:17 AM
Kosovo approves creation of international war crimes court to investigate allegations against Albanian guerrillas in 1990s

AKIPRESS.COM - parl Kosovo's parliament on Wednesday approved the creation of an international war crimes court to investigate allegations against ethnic Albanian guerrillas during their conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s.

Pristina has been under pressure from the European Union to create the special court ever since a 2011 Council of Europe report alleged crimes including abductions, summary executions and -- most controversially -- the trafficking of prisoners' organs by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998-99 war.

The report by the Council's special rapporteur Dick Marty said the KLA, which fought Serbian armed forces during the conflict, had abused, tortured and killed 500 prisoners, mostly ethnic Serbs and Roma, AFP reported.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who was a commander during the war, had strongly opposed the creation of the court, calling it "unjust and the greatest insult" to Kosovo.

But he insisted it was "the only option" to prevent the establishment of a UN-sponsored external tribunal into the allegations.

Parliament approved the creation of the court by 89 votes to 22.

Marty accused Kosovo's top political leaders, including Thaci and several of his closest allies, including current deputy parliament speaker Xhavit Haliti, of involvement in wartime crimes.

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