Grave dig blocked by Serbs

SERB POLICE in Kosovo blocked international forensic experts yesterday from exhum-ing a suspected mass grave of about 22 Albanians in the Drenica region of the province.

The victims were killed in Serbia's brutal military campaign to suppress a revolt in the province in the spring by armed militants of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The stand-off occurred after KLA fighters insisted the 19 forensic experts from Finland had to enter the region without a Serb police escort. The region is a KLA stronghold. Serb police then stopped the convoy before it entered the area.

Albanian families taking advantage of the current truce to return to their homes, meanwhile, have accused Serb forces of poisoning their wells before they pulled out of the province.