Bosnia rally hails Milosevic, Karadzic, Mladic

BIJELJINA, Bosnia, Mar 18 (Reuters) Hundreds of Bosnian Serbs rallied today to protest against Bosnia's genocide lawsuit against Serbia and Montenegro and demand an end to the UN war crimes tribunal's pursuit of Bosnian Serb suspects.

The rally in Bijeljina, a stronghold of Bosnian Serb nationalists, coincided with the funeral of Slobodan Milosevic in neighbouring Serbia, who was largely seen as the main culprit for wars Serbs waged in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Many protesters carried pictures of Milosevic and Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

All three men were charged with genocide for their parts in Bosnia's 1992-95 war in which at least 100,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Milosevic died of heart failure at the UN tribunal a week ago, just months before the end of his trial.

Karadzic and Mladic are still at large.

Such an outpouring of support for Karadzic and Mladic has been rare in recent years in the Serb Republic, which makes up post-war Bosnia along with the Muslim-Croat federation. However, opinion polls show most Bosnian Serbs view them as heroes.

''Enough With Lies'', one banner read. ''We Don't want To Give Up Our Heroes'' was written on another as nationalist songs blasted from loudspeakers.

On the border with Serbia, Bijeljina was one of the first Bosnian cities to be ''ethnically cleansed'' by Bosnian Serb and Serbian paramilitaries, backed by the former Yugoslav army.

It was captured on April 1, 1992, five days before the Bosnian war officially broke out. Dozens of Muslims were killed while others were detained or forced to flee.

Sarajevo sued Belgrade, which backed Serb separatists after Bosnia declared independence from socialist Yugoslavia, at the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1993. It accused Serbia of sponsoring genocide.

The trial at the ICJ is due to run until early May and the judgment is expected by the end of the year.

Bosnian Serbs oppose the lawsuit, saying it was launched against their will by Bosnia's Muslim-led wartime government. Serb leaders have repeatedly sought to have it withdrawn.

REUTERS CH RAI0009