Serbs apologise for war crimes

2007-02-28 19:10

Banja Luka - The Bosnian Serb government apologised on Wednesday to Muslim and Croat victims of war crimes during the country's brutal 1992-1995 conflict.

The apology came two days after the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, found Serbia guilty of failing to prevent genocide by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The government of Bosnia's Serb-run half, Republika Srpska, "expresses its deepest regret for the war crimes committed against non-Serbs during the war in Bosnia," it said in a statement.

It also called on Muslim and Croat leaders to "do the same in order to ensure a better future for all peoples and citizens of Bosnia".

The statement added that authorities in Republika Srpska would continue to "make maximum efforts to apprehend remaining people responsible for these crimes, notably for the crimes committed in Srebrenica."

In its ruling on Monday, the international court based in The Hague cleared Serbia of direct involvement in genocide during the war.

Main culprits still at large

But the court said Belgrade had breached international law because of the Srebrenica massacre of 8 000 Muslim males.

Serb forces took control of the eastern town of Srebrenica, then a UN-protected enclave, in the final months of the war before summarily killing about 8 000 Muslim men and boys within a few days.

The massacre is the worst atrocity in post-war Europe.

Its main culprits, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his army chief Ratko Mladic, are still at large.

Mladic is believed to be hiding in Serbia and Karadzic in Montenegro or Serb-controlled parts of Bosnia.

- AFP