Four Serbs held for killing 28 in Kosovo

BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR

FOUR Serbs have been arrested as part of an y.

Yesterday Colonel Claude Vicaire, the commander of the French police in Kosovo, revealed that a witness, whom he declined to identify, had supplied information "in a European country" which helped them to locate a grave where the 28 bodies were found - the 23 force-marched

away and five others. So far, nine of the bodies have been identified and another seven

are expected to be formally identified soon. The grave was uncovered in the village of Vidomiric, about two miles west of Mitrovica. The four Serbs arrested are suspected of committing or witnessing the murders. A fifth Serb, who is believed to have witnessed the

massacre, is being held for questioning. Initially, it was speculated that the bodies had been burnt in furnaces at the huge Trepca mine in the north of the province. But tests of ashes there by forensic scientists fail a total of 54 people had been arrested in the Mitrovica area since June. "Some are directly concerned with this investigation and some are not yet," he said. He hinted that other arrests might follow in connection with a massacre in Vidomiric. More than 400 bodies have been exhumed since June by war crimes tribunal investigators in the northern sector of Kosovo, which is controlled by the French.

Last week an official at the tribunal headquarters in The Hague said that more than 150 suspected war crimes' sites had been uncovered throughout the whole of the province since the rrival of Kfor troops. Kelly Moore, a spokesman for the tribunal, said that thousands of bodies

had been exhumed and many more were expected over the next few months.