Remains of KiM Albanians from Rudnica transported to Merdare

RUDNICA - The bodies of 16 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), recovered at Rudnica, near Raska, were transported on Friday to the Merdare administrative crossing to be handed over to EULEX officials.

"This is the final stage of the works conducted at the site for more than a year, at the instruction of Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor's Office,” chairman of the Serbian government's commission on missing persons Veljko Odalovic said.

Another 24 human remains recovered at the site have been identified and will soon be prepared for the handover at the administrative crossing, in line with the procedure, he added.

Odalovic underlined that great efforts, as well as material and human resources were employed, and that Serbia invested substantial funds in resolving this humanitarian issue.

In this way Serbia has proved to be a responsible state, he stressed.

"Families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones and who is responsible for the crimes. Nothing will be omitted. Everything was done in a transparent and professional manner,” said Odalovic.

He recalled that 46 bodies were exhumed from the Rudnica 1 site, noting that “there will probably be some more” and added that nothing was found at two other sites.

The identification of the bodies was conducted in Tuzla, he said, adding that the remains are handed over based on the certificates issued by the International Commission on Missing Persons.

Chairman of the Pristina commission on missing persons Prenk Gjetaj confirmed that human remains were found only at the site Rudnica 1, but pointed to suspicions that more mass graves may exist in the area.

Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Dragoljub...