Remains of 22 Kosovo Albanians delivered to their families

Merdare, June 12, 2003 - Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija representatives delivered remains of 22 Kosovo Albanians, exhumed from a mass grave in Petrovo selo, to their families at the Merdare administrative crossing.

Head of the Coordinating Centre's Bureau for Kidnapped and Missing Persons Gvozden Gagic said that 77 bodies were recovered from the mass grave. The bodies are mostly of ethnic Albanians killed during the 1999 Kosovo war.

Gagic added that 33 bodies from the Petrovo Selo mass grave have been handed over since the beginning of the year, and 37 bodies from a mass grave in Batajnica were delivered last month.

The remaining exhumed bodies will be handed over to their families following identification at the Belgrade Institute of Forensic Medicine.

A total of 930 bodies were uncovered from mass graves in Petrovo Selo, Batajnica and Perucac, the Beta news agency reported.