BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A brother of three American citizens slain after fighting in Serbia in 1999 has accused the Balkan country's leaders of refusing to bring the killers to justice despite repeated pledges to do so.

The Bytyqi brothers, Ylli, Mehmet and Agron, left their Brooklyn, New York pizza business to fight with ethnic Albanian rebels against Serbia's rule in Kosovo. They were arrested at the end of the clashes when they strayed into central Serbia. Their bodies were discovered in a mass grave in 2001.

Their brother Fatos Bytyqi told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly promised American officials that Serbia would solve the case.

Bytiqi says Vucic called for patience. "I say patience for 17 years? This case is not from yesterday."