Kosovo possible mass grave: seven bodies found, PM says

Kosovo forensic teams have found seven bodies at a potential wartime mass grave in the country's north, Prime Minister Albin Kurti told AFP on Saturday.

Kurti said he believed 23 people may be buried at the site. He said the remains were most likely those of 23 Albanians who were abducted and executed in spring 1999. He had earlier said he believed the victims were intellectuals from Mitrovica, including doctors, professors and human rights activists, who disappeared on April 19, 1999.

Authorities said earlier this week that human remains had been discovered at the site, but they had not confirmed whether it was a wartime mass burial site.

Kosovo's chief special prosecutor, Blerim Isufaj, visited the dig site on July 30 and cautioned that identification would take time. Two Serbs were earlier arrested in connection with the case, the chief prosecutor said in a statement, without giving further details.

The 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian guerrillas seeking independence and Serbian armed forces killed about 13,000 people and left 4,000 missing. The remains of thousands have since been found, but 1,600 people are still missing.

Kosovo and Serbia agreed in January, under European Union auspices, to form a joint commission to accelerate the search for wartime missing people. Relations remain strained because Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's independence.