30 kilograms of explosives at the site of a memorial to the thousands of victims of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica. It came as a setback for Christian organizations promoting reconciliation in the troubled region. The explosives were uncovered early Tuesday, July 5, as preparations were underway for commemoration services to mark the 10th anniversary of the killings.
The discovery at the Potocari memorial site came just days before about 50,000 people were expected to gather to commemorate Europe’s worst single atrocity since the World War II. As many as 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed when Bosnian Serb troops overran the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.
Organizers said some 570 victims of that bloodshed, between 14 and 75 years old, will be re-buried at the cemetery during the ceremony. Their bodies were exhumed from over 60 mass graves which have been found around Srebrenica.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
An official from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told BosNewsLife that Bosnian Serb police were cooperating with the international community to secure the area. More than 1,000 Srebrenica victims are already buried in the Potocari memorial cemetery.
The alleged architects of the massacre, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his top general, Ratko Mladic, have been indicted by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal. Both man remain at large.
UN Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said she will not attend the Srebrenica commemorations unless they are captured.
SERB APOLOGY
The government of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina recently apologized to the victims. But the federal parliament of the divided nation failed to adopt a resolution condemning the atrocity, after Serb lawmakers objected to the word "genocide."
Christian groups have been active in the area of Srebrenica to encourage reconciliation. "Telling someone else the Good News of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest privileges I know, for when others hear and believe the Gospel, their lives are changed forever," said Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham in a recent statement.
Franklin Graham’s organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has been distributing aid and shoe boxes with presents for Muslim children in cooperation with locals. Its Samaritan’s Purse Children’s Heart Project has also brought children from Bosnia and other areas to over 45 hospitals in the United States and Canada for critical heart care since 1997. (With Stefan J. Bos. Part of this story also aired on Voice of America (VOA)).
