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SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jul 5, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Muslim widows were reportedly preparing to sue the United Nations and Netherlands for failing to protect their sons and spouses from Bosnian Serbs in 1995.
An Amsterdam legal firm was working on the compensation lawsuit on behalf of the widows from Srebrenica, the mostly Muslim town in eastern Bosnia, Germany's Der Spiegel reported Wednesday.
About 8,000 Muslim boys and men were killed in July 1995 after Serbian troops led by military chief Ratko Mladic captured Srebrenica.
Still on the run, Mladic is sought by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague on genocide and crimes against humanity charges, including the Srebrenica massacre.
Dutch soldiers, as part of the U.N. protection forces, were stationed around in the Srebrenica area and in villages nearby, but they were not equipped to confront the Bosnian Serb units.
However, for most of the surviving relatives, money is not the issue, the newspaper said. The relatives want an answer as to why the Dutch soldiers did not, or could not stop the Serbian troops.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
