THE BALKANS:Muslim inhabitants of Srebrenica are threatening a mass exodus unless their town is granted special administrative status, thus emerging from the authority of the Bosnian Serbs, their former tormentors.
Srebrenica, 90 per cent Muslim before the 1992-95 Bosnian war, is currently under the jurisdiction of the Serb Republic, along with most of eastern Bosnia.
Now local politicians say this must change because of an International Court of Justice ruling last week that the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys near the town by Bosnian Serb forces constituted genocide.
Several thousand Muslims have returned in recent years to the now Serb-majority town, mostly women duty bound to tend the graves of relatives in the Srebrenica memorial cemetery.
Bosnian Muslim leaders have circulated a declaration that was signed by many prominent Srebrenica citizens, and have proposed a status similar to that of the northern river port city of Brcko, a "neutral district" running its own affairs.
They have now given the authorities until mid-March to come up with a proposal on Srebrenica's future status.
Serb Republic Prime Minister Milorad Dodik has expressed regret and apologised to the victims for what he said was "a heinous crime" but has denied that genocide took place.
Yesterday, Mr Dodik appealed to Srebrenica's Muslim residents to ignore what he called manipulation by politicians and stay put. He also promised to allocate extra funds to revitalise the neglected town.