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Reluctant Kosovo approves war crimes court

Pristina (AFP) - Kosovo's parliament on Wednesday approved the creation of an international war crimes court to investigate allegations against ethnic Albanian guerrillas during their conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s.

Pristina has been under pressure from the European Union to create the special court ever since a 2011 Council of Europe report alleged crimes including abductions, summary executions and -- most controversially -- the trafficking of prisoners' organs by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998-99 war.

The report by the Council's special rapporteur Dick Marty said the KLA, which fought Serbian armed forces during the conflict, had abused, tortured and killed 500 prisoners, mostly ethnic Serbs and Roma.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who was a commander during the war, had strongly opposed the creation of the court, calling it "unjust and the greatest insult" to Kosovo.

But he insisted it was "the only option" to prevent the establishment of a UN-sponsored external tribunal into the allegations.

Parliament approved the creation of the court by 89 votes to 22.

Marty accused Kosovo's top political leaders, including Thaci and several of his closest allies, including current deputy parliament speaker Xhavit Haliti, of involvement in wartime crimes.

The report also implicated Fatmir Limaj, a former KLA commander who has previously been acquitted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

The claims of illegal detentions, mafia-style murders and alleged organ trafficking were first brought up by Carla Del Ponte, the lead UN war crimes prosecutor, in a book she published in 2008.

Thaci and his government have denied the accusations and condemned Del Ponte and Marty's claims.

Some of the more extreme allegations -- particularly the claim that KLA fighters harvested organs from prisoners and sold them to trafficking networks -- have been met with scepticism in parts of the foreign press.

The new war crimes court will be seated in Pristina, but "sensitive proceedings, including hearing of witnesses, would take place outside of the country in view of the nature of the allegations," the EU mission in Kosovo said in a statement.

It would operate under Kosovo's laws, but its prosecutors and judges will be international. No date has yet been set for the court to be created.

US prosecutor John Clint Williamson and his team have been investigating the allegations on behalf of EULEX, the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo set up to deal with most sensitive judicial issues.

Their findings are expected to be concluded by the end of this year.

- Former guerrillas angered -

The plan to set up the court has stirred strong emotions in Kosovo, where many consider KLA guerrillas as heroes.

"It is unacceptable. We urge MPs to respect our holy war and vote against the court," said the head of the veterans association, Muharrem Xhemajli.

Adem Demaci, a prominent human rights activist and former KLA political representative said Kosovo is "forced to accept something that violates its interests".

"The international community must not insist that Albanians trample on their blood," Demaci said.

International rights group Human Rights Watch backed the creation of the court.

"The proposal to establish a special court... is Kosovo's chance to advance justice and individual accountability for very serious crimes," HRW official Lotte Leicht said in a statement.

The two-year war ended when a NATO air campaign ousted Belgrade forces that had unleashed a brutal attack under the command of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic against the Kosovo insurgents.

More than 10,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, were killed during the conflict. Some 1,700 are still officially missing.

Kosovo's unilateral proclamation of independence from Serbia in 2008 has been recognised by more than 100 countries, including the United States and most of the European Union's 28 member states.

Serbia, backed by Russia, fiercely refuses to recognise Kosovo, but has improved ties with Pristina as part of its efforts to win integration into the European Union.