Many war graves have already been discovered

An estimated 40,000 people are still missing and presumed murdered following the Balkan conflicts of the early 90s.

It is feared that some of the graves are in inaccessible places - under hotels, petrol stations and car parks or in collapsed underground mines.

The university experts will be working with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), based in Sarajevo.

To tear down buildings or undertake massive excavations of old mines, only to find there are no bodies, would be a risky venture, to say the least Rick Harrington

ICMP works closely with Bosnian and other former Yugoslavian authorities in the recovery, examination and identification of missing persons throughout the region.

John Hunter, Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, is heading the team which will use ground-penetrating radar and other advanced technology used to find mass graves.

And Benjamin Swift, forensic pathologist in the Division of Forensic Pathology, University of Leicester, is the lead investigator in testing human bones to assess the time since death and the life history of missing persons.

Largest mass graves

Rick Harrington, head of ICMP's Exhumations and Examinations Programme said: "There are several controversial sites in the region, where people suspect that bodies have been hidden in underground mine tunnels or buried under hotels, petrol stations or concrete slabs and parking lots.

"To tear down buildings or undertake massive excavations of old mines, only to find there are no bodies, would be a risky venture, to say the least.

"Ground-penetrating radar can document some of these sites without the need to dig. We may even find some of the largest mass graves to date in Bosnia and Herzegovina".