Former Kosovo rebel commander convicted of 1999 murder

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army has been found guilty of arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners perceived as supporters of Serbia during the country’s 1999 war of independence, and murdering one of them. The presiding judge called Friday’s conviction a “milestone” for a special court based in the Netherlands. The commander, Salih Mustafa, was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment for the crimes committed at a KLA compound in Zllash, Kosovo, in April 1999. He was acquitted of one charge of mistreating detainees. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.