Kosovo has banned Serbia's army chief from entering the territory over allegations that his troops committed war crimes during the 1998-1999 conflict there, the Kosovan foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The decision was based on a report by a prominent Serbian human rights watchdog, which claims that General Ljubisa Dikovic headed "the unit responsible for war crimes that took place during the conflict," Kosovo's Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi told AFP.
The 2012 report by the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) said Dikovic, who served as a brigade commander during the war, had failed to prevent the execution, beating and rape of civilians.
"For us it is a credible and harrowing report that provides serious evidence that General Dikovic is responsible for some of the worst war crimes in Kosovo," Selimi said.
"We will also appeal to the Council of Europe soon, to press Serbia to research these allegations fully," he added.
The HLC in 2012 filed a complaint against Dikovic to Serbia's war crime prosecutor, which is now probing the allegations.
The group said Tuesday that its leading activist Natasa Kandic had been fined 550,000 dinars (4,500 euros, $5,000) for linking Dikovic to war crimes, even though the allegations are still under investigation.
The war, in which pro-independence Kosovo Albanian guerrillas fought the armed forces commanded by then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, claimed around 13,000 lives, a majority of them ethnic Albanians.
It ended after a NATO air campaign ousted Milosevic's forces from Kosovo, establishing a UN protectorate over the territory and paving the way for its independence a decade later.
Kosovo is recognised by more than 100 countries but Serbia still considers it a part of its territory.
