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to debate troops' role in Bosnia

THE HAGUE: The Dutch parliament will debate the role of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers in the fall of the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica last month, a defence ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Thursday's debate comes after press speculation in the Netherlands that Dutch soldiers stood by and allowed genocide after more than 300 peacekeepers were overrun by Bosnian Serb forces in the U.N.-protected Moslem enclave in July.

"Defence Minister Joris Voorhoeve will write a letter to parliament today to explain what happened at Srebrenica," the spokesman said.

Voorhoeve said last month he believed troops from the Dutch battalion had witnessed "grave war crimes".

Pressure for a debate on the role of the Dutch battalion mounted over the weekend with the major parties in the Dutch coalition government demanding a response to media comments.

The ministry spokesman declined to comment on newspaper reports on Monday that Voorhoeve's letter would refer to the killings of 2,000-3,000 Moslem men.

"It is very odd that seven weeks after the fall of the enclave the (Defence) ministry has yet to start a thorough investigation. This negligence adds to suspicions that the ministry is not committed to exploring what really happened," said leading daily Algemeen Dagblad in an editorial.

In July the Dutch government ordered troops returning from Bosnia to say nothing about what they had seen for fear of endangering troops still held by Bosnian Serbs in the enclave at the time. Some 60 Dutch troops had been detained by Bosnian Serb forces during the assault on the so-called "safe area".

After all the peacekeepers had returned home from Srebrenica Voorhoeve said there was no longer any reason to remain silent about any atrocities they may have witnessed.

Some 2,000 Dutch military personnel remain in the former Yugoslavia as part of the U.N. presence there.-Reuter