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Tuesday, 23 July, 2002, 22:35 GMT 23:35 UK

Mass grave found near Srebrenica

Forensic experts in Bosnia have discovered a mass grave in the north-east of the country, close to the site of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.

It is thought the grave contains the bodies of Bosnian Muslims killed by Bosnian Serb forces after they captured Srebrenica.

So far the remains of some 15 people have been found, but Murat Hurtic, an official from the Muslim Commission for Missing Persons, said: "We have reason to believe that the grave contains over 100 bodies."

Srebrenica was declared a United Nations safe haven during the Bosnian war and thousands of Muslims flocked there to escape attack.

But Bosnian Serb troops overran the town, massacring thousands of people.

Skeletons 'incomplete'

The grave site was discovered on Monday near the Serb-held village of Kamenica, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) north-east of Sarajevo.

The commission said it had "reliable proof" that the remains were transported to the grave from another location, in order to conceal the remains from war crime investigators.

He said some of the skeletons were incomplete, and that others were found with their hands bound by wire.

More than 7,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed after the fall of Srebrenica, in the worst massacre Europe has seen since World War II.

So far 6,000 bodies have been exhumed from numerous mass graves around the town, but only 300 have been identified.

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his army chief Ratko Mladic have been implicated in the Srebrenica massacres.

They have both been indicted for war crimes and genocide by The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Both, however, are still at large.


Related to this story:
In pictures: Mourning Srebrenica's dead (11 Jul 02 | Europe) Tears as Srebrenica survivors reunite (11 Jul 02 | Europe) Q&A: Srebrenica massacre (02 Aug 01 | Europe) Identifying Srebrenica's victims (10 Apr 02 | Europe) Srebrenica tries to lure back Muslims (10 Apr 02 | Europe)


Internet links: The Hague War Crimes Tribunal | UN Mission in Bosnia
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