- guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 December 2000 15.36 GMT
The soldiers, from the 1st battalion of the parachute regiment, allegedly shot two men during a Kosovo Albanian victory parade in Pristina on July 3 last year.
Fahri Bici, 20, and Avni Dudi, 24, the dead men, were believed to be members of the Kososvo Liberation Army.
The soldiers were charged by the army's legal service following an investigation by the royal military police. However, the final decision involved local prosecutors in the Kosovan capital, Pristina, appointed by the United Nations.
The men, who have not been named, will remain in service pending a court martial.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory defence spokesman, said it was "an utterly disgraceful move" to charge the soldiers.
The MoD are unable to specify what charges the men face.
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18 September: US troops abused civilians in Kosovo
Useful links
Parachute regiment
Ministry of defence
United Nations Kosovo home page
KFOR online
Iain Duncan Smith
Council for the defence of human rights in Pristina
Federal republic of Yugoslavia


