First tribute to Serb war victims in Sarajevo
A heavy police presence yesterday surrounded the first ceremony allowed in Sarajevo to mourn Serb soldiers killed at the start of the 1992-95 Bosnian War, which left deep scars in the city.
Security forces stopped everyone getting close to the dozens of members of Serb groups and relatives of the dead soldiers who laid white roses in the street where a Yugoslav army convoy was attacked as it pulled out of the city in 1992.
The withdrawal marked the start of the 44-month siege of Sarajevo in which about 10,000 people died. Many in the Bosnian capital have never forgiven the Serbs.
The ceremony went off without incident, according to police, though it was preceded by a demonstration by Bosnian Muslims. And the city's mayor Alija Behmen had wanted the event banned as a "provocation" by Bosnian Serbs.
The organisers had originally wanted to march along the street where the Yugoslav convoy was attacked by Bosnian government.
"They killed our children and no one has been held accountable," said Bogdana Tomovic, whose 18-year-old son was one of the soldiers killed, as quoted by the FENA news agency.
"We demand justice for the crimes committed against soldiers who were peacefully withdrawing from Sarajevo," she said, adding that her son "was killed in a treacherous way".
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