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Kosovo President Thaci faces war crimes indictment | |
(30 minutes later) | |
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has been accused of war crimes by a special international prosecutor in The Hague. | |
Mr Thaci and nine others "are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders", torture and enforced disappearances, the prosecutor said. | |
The accusations - covering Kosovo's independence war against Serbia in 1998-1999 - have to be confirmed by a judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers before formal charges are announced. | |
Mr Thaci has denied all charges. | |
In its announcement, the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) said it had filed a 10-count indictment with the KSC "for the Court's consideration". | |
"The Indictment is only an accusation. It is the result of a lengthy investigation and reflects the SPO's determination that it can prove all of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt," it said. | |
Allegations of organ-trafficking against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) - the rebel movement that Mr Thaci led - were first set out by a former Hague war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte in 2008. The EU-backed court was set up to investigate the claims. | |
Kosovo's government has angrily denied the allegations, calling them "baseless and defamatory" ahead of the publication of a report in 2011. | |
Mr Thaci has been in power in Kosovo since the end of the war - most recently as president of Kosovo. | |
The independence war in 1998-1999 cost more than 10,000 lives and only ended after a Nato air campaign. | |
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, something Serbia still does not recognise. | |
Mr Thaci was due to travel to Washington DC for planned talks with Serbia's leadership in the White House on Saturday. |