Serbia Seeks Kosovo Organ Trade Probe

Belgrade has demanded an urgent UN investigation into claims that Kosovo rebels trafficked in human organs during and after the 1999 war.

Serbia proposed a resolution at an annual conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held in Belgrade, seeking "a comprehensive and independent" UN-led investigation into the alleged organ trade.

A December report by the Council of Europe alleged that Kosovo's independence-seeking rebels kidnapped mostly Serbs and took them to Albania, where they were killed for their kidneys to be harvested for sale on the international black market.

The United States, Britain, and France have suggested that the European Union should conduct the Kosovo organ-trafficking probe through its EULEX mission there.

Serbia, backed by Russia and China, which have refused to recognize Kosovo, wants a UN-led investigation.

EULEX said in January its prosecutors had opened "a preliminary investigation" into the report.

compiled from agency reports