Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic stated that five ethnic Albanians were arrested in southern Serbia on Thursday evening on suspicion of war crimes during the armed conflicts in this area in 2001.

Upon the request of the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office, the Gendarmerie carried out an action in the municipality of Bujanovac, and the villages of Veliki Trnovac and Breznica, Dacic said at early press conference in Vranje, southern Serbia.

The arrested persons are: Eljhami Salihi, Serif Abdiri, Nedir Sefedini and Sevdai Emurlahi, while Bljerim Duraki from the village of Breznica was arrested for illegal possession of weapons, Dacic said.

Two persons who obstructed the action were also arrested, the minister said.

One of the two is Izet Cazimi, brother of Ridvan Cazimi - a commander of the so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

One arrested individual employed by OSCE

Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia Dimitrios Kypreos confirmed that one of the individuals arrested in the action in southern Serbia early on Friday is an OSCE employee and underscored that OSCE would continue to cooperate closely with the Serbian government in further investigation into the case. As Interior Minister Ivica Dacic stated earlier, the arrestee is a translator charged with war crimes.

Local OSCE employee in Bujanovac was arrested in the police action in southern Serbia early on Friday together with seven more ethnic Albanians, and the arrestee has been an employee of the OSCE mission in Serbia since the consultations with Serbian authorities on November 9, 2001, Kypreos said in a written statement for the media. The OSCE mission has not obtained any evidence concerning the arrestee yet, he said.

The mission will back the Serbian government in the investigation with full respect for the principles of presumption of innocence, and we understand that this issue is important and we are committed to close cooperation with Serbian authorities in the case, Kypreos noted. 

Dacic told an extraordinary news conference in the Vranje Police Department that he received phone-calls from several embassies of western countries and the OSCE mission, all of whom asked what exactly the authorities are doing in southern Serbia.

Dacic expressed belief that it is negative for OSCE's credibility that the arrestee charged with war crimes was their employee, Dacic said. Dacic showed the photos of massacred individuals to reporters for the first time and said that members of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja had done it.