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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Remains of 4 Serbs, non-Albanians taken over

Belgrade, 3 October 2008

President of the Commission for Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic said that at the administrative border Merdare, the identified mortal remains of four persons of Serbian and non-Albanian nationalities have been taken over today.

In a statement to the Tanjug news agency, Odalovic said that Albanian terrorists kidnapped and killed these persons in Kosovo in 1999. He said that the Commission handed over the remains to their families and specified that these are the bodies of Svetislav Jaksic, Smiljana Stevic, Miomir Maksimovic and Ramoci Besim.

The Commission for Missing Persons took over the remains of 288 people, including these four, though 547 more names are on our list, he said and explained that all bodies were identified through DNA analysis.

According to him, around 400 bodies are awaiting identification in the Pristina morgue and the Serbian side is dissatisfied with the slow course of the process.

Odalovic said that when the UN Commissioner for Human Rights visits Serbia within a few days, he will ask him to exert stronger pressure on UNMIK administration and Kosovo provisional institutions in order to speed up the identification process.

He also noted that following conflicts in Kosovo-Metohija, a total of 1,950 people were recorded as missing and the list includes Serbs, Albanians, the Roma, Turks and other non-ethnic Albanians.