EU judge puts Kosovo MP under house arrest

PRISTINA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A Kosovo member of parliament from the ruling party has been put under house arrest for 30 days by a European Union judge after he was charged on suspicion of committing war crimes during 1998-99 war with Serbia, an EU official said on Thursday.

Charges against Fatmir Limaj and nine other people who had been arrested in March this year include murder, torture and violations of human rights of Albanians, Serbs and prisoners of war.

All the people charged are ex-members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which fought Serb forces during the war of independence with Serbia. Limaj, who is an ally of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, was a leading figure in the KLA.

Limaj's arrest came days after the country's highest court, the Constitutional Court, ruled that members of parliament had no immunity and could be detained.

"Limaj was put under house arrest for one month and his travel documents were temporarily confiscated," said Hanns-Christian Klasing, a spokesman for the EU police and justice mission (EULEX).

It remains unclear when his trial will start.

Seen as a liberator by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, Limaj was acquitted by The Hague war crimes tribunal in 2005, two years after he was indicted for similar charges.

Limaj also faces corruption charges for when he was transport minister in a previous government.

The EULEX mission is mainly a monitoring team helping the young country to strengthen the rule of law. However, it has some executive powers in cases such as war crimes, corruption and organised crime.

Former Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is also on trial for war crimes at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.

More than 10,000 civilians, overwhelmingly ethnic Albanians, were killed in the war. Another 800,000 Albanians were forced out of their homes in the former Serbian province during the conflict, which prompted NATO bombing of Serbia and ended with the United Nations taking control of Kosovo in 1999.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognised by more than 80 U.N. members, including the United States and most the EU countries. Russia, China and many other countries do not recognise Kosovo. (Reporting By Fatos Bytyci; Editing by David Stamp)