Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
A US prosecutor will investigate claims that Kosovo's Prime Minister led a criminal network that sold organs of civilian captives during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
John Clint Williamson was named lead prosecutor for a task force set up to investigate the allegations raised in a report last year by the Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty.
Mr Marty has alleged that Hashim Thaci and other commanders of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army ran detention centres near Albania's border with Kosovo, where civilian captives, including Serbs, were killed and their organs sold on the black market.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that is backed by 80 countries, including the US and most nations in the EU. Serbia says it will never recognise the new country.
Mr Thaci has denied the allegation and said he is ready to co-operate with any investigation into the claims. Classified UN documents suggest the organisation's mission in Kosovo was aware of the organ-trafficking allegations as early as 2003, when alleged witness statements where made available to UN investigators.
UN authorities then briefly investigated the claims in 2004 but never launched a full inquiry.
The claims were first made public in a book by former UN war crimes prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte who also said hundreds of Serb civilians went missing and are believed to have perished in camps that were run by the Kosovo Liberation Army in neighbouring Albania's remote north. AP
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments