The UN administration in Kosovo has released 80 former ethnic Albanian prisoners who were handed over by Serbian authorities on Tuesday as part of a larger group.

Hundreds of family members and friends greeted the former detainees when they emerged from the UN prison where their sentences had been reviewed before the release.

They had been held in Serbian prisons since the Kosovo conflict, which ended three years ago, and were released after an agreement between Belgrade and the UN.

They were imprisoned during the Milosevic era, many on what a BBC correspondent in Belgrade says were political charges.

Tuesday's handover brought to a close a long campaign for the release of all remaining Kosovo Albanian prisoners in Serbian jails.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service