Trial of Sarajevo siege commander begins today

THE HAGUE, Jan 11 (Reuters) A former Bosnian Serb commander charged with the shelling of Sarajevo that killed thousands and creating a ''state of terror'' during the Bosnian war goes on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal today.

Dragomir Milosevic faces four counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of violations of the laws and customs of war for the campaign waged against the civilian population by his Sarajevo Romanija Corps unit of the Bosnian Serb Army.

Sarajevo's plight became synonymous with the 1992-1995 Bosnian war during the 44-month siege. The world witnessed via television images how sniper and shell fire rained down on civilians from the steep hills surrounding the capital.

''The shelling and sniping was directed at civilians who were tending vegetable plots, queuing for bread, collecting water, attending funerals, shopping in markets, riding on trams, gathering wood, or simply walking with their children or friends,'' the indictment states.

Milosevic, 64, who is not related to the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, has pleaded not guilty. He surrendered to the UN war crimes tribunal in December 2004.

Milosevic inherited command of the Romanija Corps in August 1994 from Stanislav Galic, who was the first suspect to be tried by the tribunal in connection with the siege of Sarajevo.

Last November, Galic, who was convicted in 2003, had his sentence increased to life imprisonment from 20 years after an appeal by prosecutors.

''The attacks on Sarajevo civilians were ... designed to keep the inhabitants in a constant state of terror,'' the indictment said.

Norwegian government-backed research by the Sarajevo-based Investigation-Documentation Centre has said about 14,000 people were killed in the Sarajevo area during the war.

Of these, more than 10,000 people -- mostly Muslims but also Croats and Serbs -- were killed in the Muslim-held part of Sarajevo in fighting and by indiscriminate shelling and sniper attacks.

Reuters DKS VP0527