Kosovo under pressure to investigate trade in Human organs

Kosovo authorities are being urged to open an enquiry after allegations of trafficking in human body parts. Ex-war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has claimed in a new book that Albanian guerrillas killed and sold the organs of hundreds of serbians during the Kosovan war.

Human Rights Watch has written to Kosovo's Prime Minister to investigate the claims, but Serbia's Swiss representative Radivoje Radojevic has criticised Del Ponte.

He said: 'A Chief Prosecutor for International war crimes is expected to collect evidence and take legal action not write a book'.

Kosovo's justice minister Nekibe Kelmendi has also dismissed the revelations.

'It is immoral to write in books about issues that were never turned into official charges. If she knew of such cases then she should be charged withholding evidence. The sale of human organs, be they dead or alive is a criminal act.'

Hundreds of Serbians and ethnic Albanians are still missing from the war which took place at the end of the nineteen nineties.

The controversy is likely to add to tensions between Kosovo and Serbia after the state declared independence from Serbia earlier this year. The break-away state has been recognised by the US and most EU states.

Serbia and Russia oppose Kosovo's statehood.

Serbia to Hold Local Elections in Kosovo Despite Warning

Serbian news reports say Belgrade has officially decided to go forward with its own local elections in newly independent Kosovo, in a move the United Nations says is illegal.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence and has vowed to maintain its control in Serb parts of its former province.

Serbia's official Tanjug news agency says Belgrade's electoral commission adopted a resolution late Wednesday confirming plans to organize the May 11 vote in Serb-inhabited areas of Kosovo.

The new Kosovo government in Pristina has not responded publicly to the reports. But the head of the U.N. mission in Kosovo told British radio the world body will not recognize election results.

Local U.N. mission chief Joachim Ruecker said the Serbian decision violates the U.N. mandate for overseeing Kosovo's political and military affairs. But he said his agency will not move to stop the polls.

Kosovo and its 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia February 17. More than 30 nations have offered recognition, including the United States and many European governments. Belgrade has responded by withdrawing its ambassadors from those countries.

NATO airstrikes in 1999 drove Serb forces from Kosovo, which has since been administered by the United Nations.

Kosovo Minister Rejects Del Ponte Allegations

Allegations that Kosovo Albanians killed Kosovo Serbs and sold their organs are a "pure fabrication", Kosovo Justice Minister Nekibe Kelmendi claims.

Kelmendi was commenting on claims reportedly made by former Chief Prosecutor at the Hague Tribunal, Carla Del Ponte in her new book, The Hunt, that former Kosovo guerrillas killed dozens of Serbs to sell their organs.

Kelmendi rejected the claims, saying that they originated either with Del Ponte herself or with Serbia.

“I had four private meetings with Del Ponte before and she never raised this issue,” Kelmendi said.

Del Ponte is currently Switzerland's ambassador to Argentina. The Hunt is an account of her investigations into war crimes committed during the break-up of former Yugoslavia.

A proposed promotional event for the book in Milan was abandoned when the Swiss government ruled that promoting her book was incompatible with Del Ponte’s position as an ambassador.

In the book, Del Ponte allegedly writes that former Kosovo Albanian fighters deported Kosovo Serbs to the town of Burrel in Albania, where they killed them and sold their organs.

Officials from the international NGO Human Rights Watch have demanded that the Kosovo government, including the Justice Ministry, launch an investigation into the allegations.

“If she knew of such cases then she should be charged with withholding evidence and hiding these crimes,” Kelmendi said.