Thursday, April 28, 2005

Families of Srebrenica war victims to meet with survivors from Kosovo conflict

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Families from the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica were visiting Kosovo on Thursday to participate in a commemoration ceremony for Kosovo's war victims.

Representatives from Srebrenica left for Kosovo on Wednesday and participated in a commemoration of the 374 victims killed in a village in Kosovo in 1999.

Three family associations of victims of the Srebrenica massacre "will show their solidarity and sympathy for the suffering of the Kosovo families," the International Commission on Missing Persons said in a statement.

The 1995 Srebrenica massacre -- in which Bosnian Serb forces overran the eastern enclave, a declared U.N. safe zone, and killed about 8,000 Muslim men and boys during 1992-95 Bosnian war -- was worst civilian massacre since World War II.

And in neighboring Serbia-Montenegro, thousands were killed in a 1999 war in the province of Kosovo.

Thousands are still missing in both former Yugoslav countries.

"Another objective of the visit is raising public awareness about the missing persons issue in the region and the need for further efforts to clarify their fate," the ICMP said.

On Thursday, they will meet with their Kosovo counterparts to discuss planning annual commemorations, memorials and how to deal with such issues as the identification process, remains found in mass graves and cooperating with government authorities, the group said.

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