WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department said on Thursday its senior human rights official will visit Kosovo to look into reports of human rights violations there.

Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor John Shattuck will arrive in Pristina on Friday and will be joined there on Saturday by former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.

State Department spokesman James Rubin said Shattuck and Dole "will meet with Serb and Kosovo Albanian leaders and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and will visit sites in the Kosovo countryside where alleged human rights violations have occurred."

The two men will leave Pristina Sunday evening for meetings with officials and NGOs in Belgrade on Monday. Shattuck will also travel to Podgorica and the Hague.

"Secretary Albright asked the State Department's senior human rights officer to undertake the mission to further develop the administration's understanding of the dimensions of the conflict in Kosovo and to emphasize U.S. support for proponents of democracy as well as victims of human rights abuse in the region," Rubin said.

Dole, who serves as Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons, will join Shattuck to corroborate reports of missing persons as a result of the conflict in Kosovo.

At least 500 people have been killed and many more are missing in a seven-month Serb offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the population of Serbian-ruled Kosovo province, and the KLA is fighting for independence.

More than 265,000 people have been driven from their homes in the fighting and there are fears of a humanitarian disaster as winter draws closer. Western nations are pressing the two sides to negotiate and threatening military intervention if fighting continues.

Reuters contributed to this report.