68 Ethnic Albanians Reburied in Kosovo Called Martyrs

CELINA, Yugoslavia — Red-eyed and wailing, thousands of mourners reburied 68 ethnic Albanian villagers eulogized Wednesday as martyrs for the dream of a free Kosovo.

This village of farmers and Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, sympathizers in southwestern Kosovo--a southern province of Yugoslavia’s chief republic, Serbia--was one of the first targeted for destruction by Serbian forces after NATO launched its air campaign against Yugoslavia on March 24.

More than a century separated the birth dates of the dead: Hasan Sinani was born in 1893 and Alma Zeqiri in 1997. All were slain sometime between March 25 and March 28 in a massacre being investigated by the international war crimes tribunal.

“As tragic as it is, it is also great. If there is a beautiful death, it is to die for your homeland,” said Rame Buja, a minister in the self-declared government of KLA leader Hashim Thaci.

Throughout the ceremony, military and political leaders pledged to keep alive the goal of an independent Kosovo in the victims’ memory.

For hours, mourners filed past the 68 caskets.

“The KLA . . . will stay alive until the aspirations of our people are fulfilled,” said Bajram Bekteshi, a local commander for the rebel force, which has forfeited its status as an army in a demilitarization agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.