Macedonian president's body found
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Parts of Trajkovski's aircraft, which crashed into a minefield Thursday.
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Trajkovsky killed in air crash in Bosnia. Journalist Samir Krilic reports
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HODOVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Rescuers have recovered the body of Macedonia's president and eight others killed in a plane crash in a remote and mountainous region of Bosnia, a NATO spokesman has said.
"There are no survivors. The bodies have been found in the wreck," Mirsad Teskeredzic, a coordinator of the rescue team, told Reuters on Friday. He added that the bodies were burned.
Macedonian government spokesman Saso Colakovski also confirmed the death of Boris Trajkovski, a moderate leader who helped unite his ethnically divided Balkan country, The Associated Press reported.
Capt. Dave Sullivan, a spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force in the country, told CNN Friday the flight data recorders, which could provide clues to the cause of the crash, were taken away by local authorities for analysis.
Wreckage of the U.S.-made Beechcraft Super King Air 200 twin-engine turboprop was found near the village of Hodovo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.
Foggy weather and land mines in the former war zone had hampered efforts to locate the wreckage.
Demining teams "came in and cleared the area" to help searchers in their efforts, Sullivan said. The Bosnia and Herzegovina state prosecutor would lead the crash investigation, he added.
About 40 to 50 forensic experts remained at the scene, Sullivan said. The tail of the plane was intact, but it had split from the fuselage, which was located just a few feet away, he said.
The plane carrying Trajkovski, 47, disappeared from radar Thursday morning near the city of Stolac, said the president's chief of staff, Andrej Lepavcov.
Trajkovski, moderate leader who helped unite his ethnically divided Balkan country, was en route to an international investment conference in Mostar, Bosnia. The plane disappeared from radar about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of its destination.
The crash came on the day Macedonia was submitting its formal application for membership in the European Union.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell issued a statement saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the news.
"He was a man whom I came to know and trust, a cherished colleague and friend," Powell said. "He embodied the finest qualities of wisdom and compassion ... and brought the people of Macedonia from crisis and division to recovery and tolerance."
European Commission President Romano Prodi said few men in Macedonia had done more than Trajkovski to lead Macedonia toward EU membership.
Trajkovksi presided over NATO peace deal in 2001 that ended clashes.
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"We all owe very much to Boris Trajkovski and my sincere hope is that his vision will be a legacy for all Macedonians and will strengthen even further their determination to join the European institutions soon," Prodi said in a written statement.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised Trajkovski's "great leadership."
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, was meeting with a visiting Macedonian delegation presenting its official EU application. The delegation flew home upon news of the crash.
Ahern offered his "deep sympathy" to Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.
Javier Solana, the EU's international policy chief, calling Trajkovski a "man of passion" and saying it was "a very tragic day for Macedonia."
-- Journalist Samir Krilic contributed to this story.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
