Hundreds Gather In Sarajevo To Mark Deaths Of Serb Soldiers

Ejup Ganic

A few hundred people gathered in Sarajevo today to commemorate the deaths of Serb soldiers killed in a May 3, 1992, attack on a Serb-led Yugoslav Army convoy.

There have been concerns the ceremony could provoke violence, as postwar bitterness remains high among Bosnia's Serb, Muslim, and Croat communities.

Serbs say 42 people were killed, while Bosnian Muslims say there were only nine victims when the convoy was attacked as it was withdrawing from Sarajevo in advance of the Serb-lead seige of the city.

The UN war crimes tribunal in 2003 dismissed Serb demands that the attack be categorized as a war crime.

Former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic was arrested in Britain in March at Serbia's request over his alleged participation in the incident, but was later released pending an extradition hearing.

Officials said today's event was held without disruption.

compiled from agency reports