Hope for justice as Bosnian Muslims bury dead

BOSNIAN Muslims yesterday buried hundreds of newly-identified victims of the Srebrenica massacre and expressed hope justice would be done now that Serb commander Ratko Mladic is on trial at The Hague.

Survivors and relatives of the dead wept in scorching heat at the scene of the Srebrenica atrocity, where the remains of 613 Muslim men and boys shot and bulldozed into the earth by Bosnian Serb forces 16 years ago were being buried.

The bodies were recently identified from mass graves. "Having him (Mladic) behind bars brings some comfort, but the true relief will come only once I find the body of my 18-year-old son who was sent to death by Mladic," said Munira Subasic, a member of the Mothers of Srebrenica group. Serb troops overran the eastern town, declared a United Nations safe haven, on July 11, 1995 and went on a killing spree in nearby woods as a Dutch UN battalion protecting the town stepped aside.