Former prisoners of Serb police cross border into Albania

Still they come across the border. Scores of men who had been imprisoned and tortured by Serb police in Kosovo make the crossing into Albania.

About 82 prisoners arrived at the northern Albanian border post of Morina yesterday, to add to the 86 who arrived on Saturday and 117 on Friday.

The condition of each convoy is visibly worse than the last and, most disturbingly, the wounds - testimony to a litany of beatings - are in each case still fresh.

The prisoners tell an almost identical story of maltreatment and persecution which persisted right up to their crossing the border, long after the ink had dried on last Thursday's peace agreement. All were released from prison only after signing confessions declaring that they were terrorists.

Xhevat, a father of five who was too fearful to give his full name in case his family in Kosovo would be identified by the Serb authorities, said he was kicked and punched by foot soldiers on the road to the border yesterday. That was after he endured five days' interrogation at the hands of special police at the Smorekovnica prison near Metrovica.

"We were made to kneel on the ground with our hands behind our heads as we were asked questions, he said. "They put papers in front of us to say we are members of UCK (the Kosovo Liberation Army) and made us shout things in English like `NATO is shit', `Kosovars should go home' and `Serbia is the best country'. Anyone who could not speak English was beaten a lot."

Further humiliation awaited the prisoners yesterday when they were released.

"As we walked from village to village we passed different army patrols. They first took all our possessions, everything - gold rings and watches. The next one looked for more valuables and when they found we had none they kicked and punched us. That happened again with two other patrols.

A number of Saturday's prisoners said they were interrogated not only in Smorekovnica but in a nearby school where children were used to help with the beatings.

"They [the police] called to the kids in the street and said they would give them food if they hit us," said one man. "The children were only ten or 12 years old and they used sticks and metal bars."

Many prisoners reported that hundreds of new inmates arrived at Smorekovnica over the weekend.

Medical staff at Kukes, where all the men were taken, said they were in the worst condition of all the prisoners to be released. As well as severe bruising, the men bore signs of malnourishment and neglect.

"We did not eat for the first two days. Then they gave us one small loaf of bread to share between six," said Mr Faik Nure, whose gaunt appearance made him look closer to 40 than his 27 years. "I lost kilos but some of the people we left behind were in a much worse state."

Meanwhile, Serbian shelling and NATO bombing continue on either side of the Albania-Kosovo border.

Almost 200 people - refugees and local villagers - were evacuated by the UNHCR yesterday from Krume after eight Serb shells landed in the northern Albanian town on Saturday night.

The early indications are that the refugees are willing to sit it out, at least until NATO troops arrive, although there were reports yesterday of a handful of Kosovars driving to the border to inspect the situation. The Albanian authorities currently police the border alone.

Ms Jennifer Dean, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said: "At this stage we have not seen any sign of a rush or panic movement back. They seem to be taking a cautious approach and won't go home until the mine clearance is done and troops are on the ground."

No new NATO troops have been deployed to the Albanian border yet. The indications are that the bulk of the ground force will make its way into Kosovo through Macedonia, where more than 14,000 NATO troops are based.

About 7,000 are located in Albania, 90 per cent of which are in Tirana and Durres in the south. Troop movements north have been hampered by Albania's notoriously poor roads.