The Serbian war crimes prosecutor's office has discovered, in cooperation with the European Union rule of law mission (EULEX) in Kosovo, a mass grave in the village of Rudnici near Raska in southern Serbia, which is believed to contain the bodies of about 250 Kosovo Albanians, war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said at a press conference in Belgrade on Monday.
The mass grave is located in the yard of the Kosmet Put company, partly under the car park of a building constructed after the conflict of 1999 and partly under the company building.
Vukcevic said it was not yet clear who had killed those people, adding that he expected exhumations to begin soon.
"That's our obligation to the victims and their families. Our aim is to deliver justice for the victims and ensure that their families can at least bury their loved ones," Vukcevic said, adding that Serbia was determined to fully investigate all crimes. "I think it's the best way for reconciliation in the region."
His deputy, Bruno Vekaric, said that it was the sixth mass grave site to have been found in the territory of Serbia since the year 2000. He added that it would most likely be the second largest mass grave site after one discovered at Batajnica, outside Belgrade, in 2001, which contained 700 bodies.
In Kosovo, nearly 1,900 people, mainly ethnic Albanians, are listed as missing from the 1998-1999 war.
