The Hague war crimes tribunal convicted a former rebel Kosovo Albanian today of murder, torture and cruel treatment during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict, but acquitted two others.
Haradin Bala was jailed for 13 years. But Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu, both former members of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), were acquitted of charges of abducting and murdering suspected collaborators and Serb civilians.
The arrest of the three former rebels in early 2003 sparked protests among Kosovo's majority Albanians, who see them as freedom fighters against Serb rule.
Violence was feared in Kosovo in the event of guilty verdicts. The ruling is the first judgement by the Hague tribunal of war crimes in Kosovo.