WITNESS IN MILOSEVIC TRIAL DESCRIBES STREET KILLINGS

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Feb 27 (Hina) - Testifying in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, the chairman of the Kosovska Mitrovica Human Rights and Freedoms Committee, Halil Barani, described how in 1999 the Serbian police killed some Albanian residents of the town at random, including a Kosovo Democratic League official. "The police opened fire at some people in the street," Barani told the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague, describing one of the murders he witnessed. Afterwards, the police removed the bodies and eliminated the traces, he said. The witness produced photographs of and documentation about crimes, including a February 1999 list of prominent Albanians from Kosovska Mitrovica who should be killed. Barani's name is among some 60 on the list. This list was found after the Serb forces left the town and the peace troops arrived. Barani also said the authorities used to imprison and harass him due to his engagement in the protection of human rights, and that they confiscated the Committee's documentation. The witness estimated that around 80,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovska Mitrovica were expelled to Albania, while 650 were killed in the town. Milosevic is charged with war crimes in Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. hina) ha sb