(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-04 16:17

"The tribunal has clearly played out its historic role, in the period when the political elites in the region and in this country either refused or were unable to deal with war crimes," Vukcevic said.

He said the judiciaries of this region have credibility and are fully prepared, as they have proved, to process war crimes cases.

Vukcevic said he expected the Hague tribunal prosecution to appeal Haradinaj's verdict.

"What is important is that nine witnesses linked to the Haradinaj case have been killed in the 2003-2007 period. One survived an assassination attempt," Vukcevic said.

The ICTY has indicted 161 individuals, mostly Serbs, for crimes allegedly committed in the last decade of the Balkan wars. More than 50 have been sentenced to over 700 years in prison.

Earlier on Thursday, Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a statement if the ICTY decided to acquit Haradinaj, this would be grave injustice and would undermine the tribunal's credibility.

Kosovo, a southern province within Serbia before the UN administration since 1999, declared independence on Feb. 17 this year. The United States and most EU member states have formally recognized Kosovo independence, while Serbia and its ally Russia strongly oppose Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

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