Nebojsa Pavkovic, Serbian general convicted by UN of war crimes in Kosovo, dies at 79

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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former Serb-led Yugoslav army chief who was convicted by a U.N. court of war crimes during the war in Kosovo, has died, Serbian officials and media said Monday. He was 79.

Pavkovic died in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, less than a month after he was released from a prison in Finland where he had been serving a 22-year jail sentence for the atrocities against ethnic Albanians in the 1998-99 conflict.

Pavkovic commanded the Serb-led Yugoslav army troops in Kosovo during a Serbian crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian forces who launched a rebellion to gain independence for the territory which was part of Serbia at the time.

Serbian security forces were accused of systematic crimes against civilians that included expulsions, torture, detentions and murder. More than 13,000 people were killed in the conflict, most of whom were ethnic Albanians.

Pavkovic was regarded as a war hero in Serbia despite his conviction at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was the army’s commander in chief from 2000-2002.

“He dedicated his life to serving the country and the army,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday. “His memory will be cherished by those who shared hard and proud days with him.”

The war in Kosovo ended after NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999 to force then President Slobodan Milosevic to relinquish control. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a split that Serbia still refuses to accept.

Milosevic died in 2006 in the Netherlands while in custody during his trial at the international tribunal in The Hague.