BELGRADE, Serbia, March 31 (UPI) -- The government of Serbia in Belgrade has formally but narrowly acknowledged the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in 1995 by Bosnian Serbs.
After 13 hours of debate that ran late into Tuesday night, 127 members of the 250-member parliament voted in favor of the recognition of the massacre and for issuing an apology, Radio B92 reported Wednesday.
"The Srebrenica Declaration sharply condemns the crime committed against the Bosnian population in Srebrenica in July 1995, expresses condolences to families of victims and extends apologies to them for lack of measures that could have prevented the tragedy," the resolution says.
The town was designated as one of six United Nations "safe havens" and was guarded by 400 Dutch peacekeepers. In the face of being overrun, the Dutch requested air support but were denied and Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces took over, killing boys and men for five days.
However, the declaration didn't refer to the incident as genocide, Voice of America said.
Wednesday, Serbia's parliament was to take up a second declaration calling for all countries of the former Yugoslavia to formally recognize crimes committed against Serbs during the war, B92 said.
