THE war crimes trial of former Kosovo rebel leader Salih Mustafa will take place in September, the court trying him announced yesterday.

Salih, a former commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), will be the first person tried by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which has also charged the former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci.

Salih has been charged with the murder of a prisoner, the torture and cruel treatment of at least six imprisoned civilians, as well as arbitrary detention during the 1998-99 conflict.

His trial is due to start on September 15 with the first witnesses heard on September 20.

The Kosovo conflict, when the territory broke away from Serbian control, claimed 13,000 lives.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, based in The Hague, was set up in 2015 to probe alleged atrocities by the KLA, whose guerrillas fought for the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.

It operates under Kosovar law but is made up of international judges handling alleged crimes committed during the conflict, mainly against Serbs, Roma and opponents of the Kosovo separatist forces. – AFP, June 20, 2021.