Thousands Protest Arrest Of Former KLA Rebels

More than 5,000 Kosovar Albanians protested in Pristina.

More than 5,000 Kosovar Albanians have protested in Pristina against the arrests of seven former fighters from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on suspicion of committing war crimes during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war.

The May 27 protest came after the EU's rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) last week detained the seven on suspicion of running a KLA detention center where civilian captives were beaten and at least one reportedly was killed.

Among those detained are Kosovo's current ambassador to Albania and a top official in Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's ruling party.

They were put under house arrest while the case is investigated.

KLA guerrillas who fought then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s forces during the war are still considered heroes by many among Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP