Questions raised over massacre in Kosovo

RACAK, KOSOVO - There are new details and questions about a massacre in Kosovo. The discovery of 45 ethnic Albanians in a ravine outside Racak in January 1999 was one of several violent incidents that triggered NATO's war against Yugoslavia.

At the time, William Walker, the head of the International Observer Mission in Kosovo, said the civilians had been executed and mutilated. Western leaders accused the Serbs of committing crimes against humanity.

Now, a team of Finnish pathologists isn't so sure that's what really happened in the tiny village.

CBC Radio News has learned an autopsy report reveals no evidence the 40 bodies were intentionally mutilated. Only one of them showed any sign of being killed at close range.

The doctor in charge of the autopsies is expected to release a full report within a few weeks.

Since the discovery of the bodies, there has been some suspicion that the massacre wasn't what it appeared to be.

On the day the bodies were discovered, Serb police had invited journalists to the village -- an odd thing to do if they were planning on killing civilians. One journalist said the scene didn't look right because there were few bullet casings near the bodies.

Some people in Kosovo have suggested that the 45 dead were Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers who were killed in fighting and then moved to the ravine to give the appearance of a massacre.

Some additional facts:

of the 45 bodies, 43 were men of fighting age not your typical village massacre.

Belorsussian pathologists found evidence for extensive gun use amongst the "victims", they had high concentrations of gunpowder chemicals on their palms.

on the Friday that this "massacre" was alleged to have taken place there were two AP journalists and OSCE observers on a hill overlooking the village who saw nothing unusual. The Yugoslavian forces pulled out of the village that evening. By Sunday, William Walker and his KLA (aka UCK) guides were giving tours of the ditch with the "victims" to the media.

The story above never appeared on CBC TV in prime time, just during the lunch hour broadcast. As it stands the story is pretty weak with no context or references. Why has the report of the Finnish pathologists been under wraps for over a year after the autopsies?.

Related story: Ethnic cleansing of Kosovo: report used to justify Nato bombing called fake