Serbs outraged by Srebrenica film

The programme was broadcast on the anniversary of Srebrenica

By Paul Anderson in Belgrade

There has been a furious row in the Serbian parliament after Serbian state television broadcast a British documentary about the massacre of Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 by Bosnian Serb forces.

The film was broadcast on Wednesday on the sixth anniversary of the massacre.

Radovan Karadzic and his general, Ratko Mladic, are still at last

Deputies lined up after each other to denounce the broadcast of the documentary made by the BBC.

One said it was the start of a witch-hunt against the Serbian people.

Another, from the ultra-nationalist Radical Party, called it a shame and a disgrace and demanded an end to the persecution of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

Both former Bosnian Serb military leaders have been indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the genocide of Muslims at Srebrenica six years ago.

More than 7,000 men and boys were separated from their families, ordered out of a United Nations safe haven and slaughtered in cold blood.

It was the worst act of barbarism in Europe since the Second World War. The two men are still at large.

Viewers furious

The film has been broadcast in Serbia before, several times on independent television, but the fact that it was picked up by state television - for so long the slavish propaganda tool of Slobodan Milosevic - has outraged hardline nationalists and Socialists.

The Democratic Alliance, DOS, which controls the Serbian parliament, said Serbia was obliged to acknowledge the guilt of the country's deposed rulers, but it too wanted to see more reports about what happened to Serbs killed by Muslims during the war.

The broadcast also caused an uproar among some members of the viewing public.

They bombarded the station, RTS, with complaints.