UN judges jailed Serb ex-police general Vlastimir Djordjevic for 27 years yesterday for his role in a plot to “change the ethnic balance in Kosovo” by terrorising the Albanian population.

The death of Slobodan Milosevic abruptly and inconclusively ended his trial for war crimes in Kosovo, but he remained a predominant figure in the trial of six Serb politicians and generals that opened in The Netherlands today.

A former Yugoslav army chief wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal today agreed to surrender to the Netherlands-based court after spending several weeks in hiding, the Serbian government said.

Defying international pressure, Serbia is refusing to arrest four top suspects wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal.

OFFICIALS in Slobodan Milosevic’s government ordered a cover-up of the remains of more than 80 Kosovo Albanians found in a refrigerated truck in the river Danube, a Serb police chief testified yesterday.