Belgrade - Thousands of Albanians in southern Serbia protested Monday asking for an immediate release of a group of Albanians arrested in December over crimes against Serbs, Belgrade media reported.

Around 3,000 Albanians gathered in Presevo town in southern Serbia, near a border with Kosovo, demanding the release of members of the so-called Gnjilanska group suspected of murdering, torturing and raping Kosovo Serbs from 1999 to 2001.

"We demand that all members of Gnjilanska group be released because we believe they haven't committed the crimes they are accused of. If they did, they wouldn't be living in Presevo with Serb police," Nader Sadiku, head of Presevo municipality said.

Protesters carried banners with signs "Presevo valley is Kosovo" and "Freedom fighters don't belong in jail." The protest ended with no incidents.

Serbian police and special forces arrested 10 members of the group in a December raid in Presevo. The arrest was followed by a high media frenzy and the detainees were accused of kidnapping 159 people and murdering at least 59 during the Kosovo war.

Serbia's crackdown on Kosovo Albanian insurgency in 1999 was followed by NATO bombing that drove the Serb forces out of Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 after years of international supervision.

Presevo valley in southern Serbia was the site of 2001 Albanian insurgency that ended with a NATO brokered truce but the tensions between Serbs and Albanians remain high. (dpa)