Bosnia war crimes trio convicted

Bosnia's war crimes court has convicted three Bosnian Serbs of killing unarmed Muslim civilians, including women and children, in September 1992.

The three men forced the group of 27 civilians to line up at a cliff edge in Jajce, central Bosnia, and shot them.

Milorad Savic and two men who share the same name, Mirko Pekez, were found guilty of killing 23 of the group.

In a separate case, a 44-year-old man who had served as a camp guard was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Dusan Fustar had pleaded guilty to involvement in the torture and execution of Muslims in the Keraterm concentration camp near the northern town of Prijedor.

Fustar was tried separately from the other defendants after pleading guilty, the first such plea-bargain deal agreed at the court.

The court said that none of the group of men, women and children killed at the cliff edge near the town of Jajce were involved in the country's 1992-95 war.

Mirko Pekez, 42, received a 29-year prison sentence while the second Mirko Pekez, 41, and Milorad Savic were each sentenced to 21-year prison terms.

Bosnia's war crimes court dates from 2005 and was set up to ease the pressure on the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague, which aims to have completed its trials by 2010.

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