Macedonian experts start digging at suspected mass grave

Macedonian forensic experts have begun digging at a suspected mass burial site, watched by international officials, according to government officials

Aleksandra Zafirovska, from the forensic team, said the experts reached a depth of two metres on the first day but hadn't found any human remains.

She denied claims made earlier by a police official at the scene that parts of a human body had already been discovered. Exhuming the site between the northwestern villages of Trebos and Dzepciste is expected to take about 10 days.

Experts from the Dutch-based UN war crimes tribunal and European Union representatives watched the digging, while NATO troops secured the area.

Reporters were banned from the site near Tetovo, an ethnic Albanian stronghold 35 kilometres west of the capital, Skopje.

The government contends that 13 Macedonian civilians, missing since April, are buried in common graves in the wider Tetovo region, after allegedly being kidnapped and shot by ethnic Albanian rebels.

Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said that the police claim the site was a grave was based on witness testimonies and field reports, adding police would not be discredited if no remains were found.

"This is only one of three suspected mass grave sites and the police has an obligation to investigate these reports," he said.