Dutch governent quits over massacre
The Dutch government resigned today, less than a week after a report on the 1995 fall of Srebrenica held political leaders and army officers partly responsible for failing to protect Muslims in the UN declared safe zone in Bosnia.
Prime Minister Wim Kok called his 15 member cabinet to a special session in The Hague to discuss the damaging report published by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.
‘‘We are going to visit the Queen. I will offer her the resignation of the ministers and junior ministers,’’ Prime Minister Wim Kok said.
The report, which took nearly six years to research, harshly criticised the government for sending Dutch soldiers into a danger zone without a proper mandate or the weapons needed to defend around 30,000 refugees who had fled to the Dutch base seeking protection.
The Dutch military was in charge of peacekeeping operations in the region when Serb forces attacked and slaughtered at least 7,500 men and boys in a week of bloodletting at the end of 1992-1995 Bosnia war.
