UN still divided on calling Bosnian Srebrenica massacre 'genocide' 20 years on
Vote recognising the massacre as genocide is postponed after Russia threatens to veto draft
The UN Security Council has postponed a vote recognising the Srebrenica massacre as genocide after Russia threatened to veto the draft text, even as Serbia's prime minister called for reconciliation 20 years after the slaughter.
The vote - led by Britain and which condemns the mass killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995, the worst atrocity in Europe since the second world war - was due to be held overnight following the delay.
The 15-member council was hoping to formally recognise the killings as an act of genocide for the first time this week as Bosnia prepares for national commemorations to mark the 20th anniversary on Saturday.
"Given the significance of the anniversary, we're committed to getting the broadest level of support from council members. We hope this delay will allow us to do so."
Bosnian Serb leaders had lobbied Russia to block the draft UN resolution, arguing that it was "anti-Serb" because it focused on the killings in the final months of the bloody war 1992-95 Bosnian war.
The disagreement over the text revived divisions from the Balkan wars when Russia sided with ethnic Serbs and Serbia, while Western countries supported Bosnian Muslims and Croatia.
Russian deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev had described the UN draft as "divisive" and said it focused on just "one part of the conflict".
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has accused Britain of trying to "register at the UN, on the basis of false declarations and reports, that a genocide was committed against Muslims".
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday said he would attend the commemorations this weekend in a bid to forge reconciliation, but stopped short of admitting any national guilt for the killings.
"I will go proudly and represent Serbia ... which is able to admit that some individuals committed crimes," Vucic said. "We condemn each one of these horrible crimes and will sentence each of these criminals."
