UN court transfers war crimes suspect to Bosnia

SARAJEVO, June 11 (Reuters) The United Nations war crimes tribunal transferred today a Bosnian Serb ex-army captain accused of genocide in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre for trial in Bosnia, the state war crimes court said.

The transfer of Milorad Trbic to Bosnian authorities came as thousands of Srebrenica survivors demonstrated in Sarajevo to press for a special status for the former UN-protected enclave.

Trbic was charged by the Hague-based court with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of laws or customs of war, the court said in a statement.

''As deputy chief of security of the Zvornik Brigade of the Serb Republic army, Trbic helped manage the military police company during the events in Srebrenica in July 1995,'' it said.

Up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in the Srebrenica massacre after Bosnian Serb forces captured the enclave in July 1995 in what is seen as Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

Trbic oversaw the detention and execution of Muslim victims at various sites in the area around the city of Zvornik, the indictment said.

Trbic is the tenth war crimes suspect to be transferred by the UN tribunal to Bosnia for trial by local courts. The UN tribunal says it wants to focus on major suspects and speed up remaining hearings on crimes during the Balkan wars before it closes down in 2010.

In Sarajevo, survivors of the Srebrenica massacre took to the streets demanding that their eastern town be removed from the jurisdiction of the Serb Republic, which together with the Muslim-Croat federation comprises Bosnia under the 1995 Dayton peace accords.

The town came under Serb jurisdiction after the war, but Muslims there have been demanding self-rule, a move vehemently opposed by authorities in the Serb Republic.

''The international community, all member states of the United Nations, are requested by international law not to recognise as lawful the results of genocide and to work together to eliminate the consequences of genocide,'' said Bosnian Muslim leader Haris Silajdzic, a member of the country's presidency.

But Srebrenica status could change only as part of a constitutional reform, which has been blocked for more than a year over disagreement between Serb and Muslim politicians.

REUTERS DS BST2240