Serbia, US at Odds Over Diplomats' Deaths in Libya

Serbia and the US continue to dispute the causes of the deaths in Libya of the two kidnapped Serbian embassy employes, Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic.

Belgrade maintains a US air strike against the Islamic State, ISIS, last week killed them but Pentagon officials blame a "criminal group", which it says used the US bombing as an alibi to kill them.

Serbia is backing its claims with results of autopsies conducted in Belgrade and Libya, which show the numerous wounds on the bodies were sustained simultaneously, typical of what is called a blast wound effect. Either that, or the diplomats died in an explosion, according to Belgrade.

"It is important that we find out the full truth. Two autopsies have been conducted in Libya and Belgrade respectively and it was established that the force of a blast caused the deaths," Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told TV Pinkon Friday.

However, the Americans claim images of the slain diplomats do not match the force of explosions in what was described as a massive attack on an ISIS compound.

"The state of the remains was not consistent with having been killed in an airstrike of this magnitude and intensity," an unnamed Pentagon official told The Washington Post.

American officials believe the diplomats may have already been dead, and their bodies may have already been in Tripoli, by the time of the airstrike.

Stefanovic criticised the Pentagon for drawing conclusions based on analyses only of photographs of the bodies.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic agrees. He said he saw the Pentagon's denial of US responsibility as a reflection of global clashes between the big powers, and said he would stick by Serbia's version unless the Pentagon offers more...