Bosnian Serb denies 5,000 murders

Obrenovic denied each of the five charges

A former Bosnian Serb commander accused over the massacre of 5,000 Muslims at Srebrenica has appeared before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague to plead not guilty to all the charges against him.

Dragan Obrenovic, who was dramatically arrested in Bosnia on Easter Sunday, looked tired and tense as he stood before the tribunal to deny five counts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Thousands of Muslims were killed in Srebrenica

The massacre - inside what was supposed to be a United Nations safe haven - was the worst in Europe since World War II.

Mr Obrenovic is accused of organising firing squads to carry out the summary executions of the 5,000 men and boys, after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995.

He was in charge of the Zvornik Brigade, which had besieged the eastern town, forcing the Muslims to surrender but then shooting them down.

Mr Obrenovic faces five charges including genocide, murder, violating the laws and customs of war, and persecution.

Distraught women and children fled on foot

The charges were read to him one by one, and he denied each one in turn.

The tribunal indictment, which had previously been kept secret, accuses him of being heavily involved in the Srebrenica massacre.

"Dragan Obrenovic participated in a criminal plan and enterprise, the common purpose of which was to detain, capture and summarily execute by firing squad and bury over 5,000 Muslim men and boys from the Srebrenica enclave," the indictment reads.

The indictment said the crimes also included exhuming the victims' bodies and re-burying them in "hidden locations."

Mass grave

The biggest mass grave of Srebrenica victims was found about 50km (35 miles), near Zvornik - the local brigade which Mr Obrenovic headed.

Mr Obrenovic's overall commander, General Radislav Krstic, is already on trial at The Hague - the highest-ranking Bosnian Serb to go in the dock.

Last month the prosecution played a tape in court of an intercepted telephone conversation in which General Krstic apparently told Mr Obrenovic to carry out the war crime with the words "kill them all".

Thousands of women were left widowed and bereaved

In Mr Obrenovic's dramatic arrest at the weekend, he was bundled into a car in Zvornik by plain-clothes officers from the Nato-led S-For peacekeeping forces, and flown out of the country the same day.

The tribunal's Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has welcomed the arrest, the first by the international peace force since last June.

Two of the most wanted fugitives of the 1992-95 Bosnian war have also been indicted over the Srebrenica massacre - former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his top general, Ratko Mladic.