Dutch Cabinet Steps Down Over Srebrenica Report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 17, 2002

Dutch Cabinet Steps Down Over Srebrenica Report

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The Dutch cabinet resigned aftera crisis meeting Tuesday over an official report on the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, in which thousands of Muslims were killed, diplomatic resources in Brussels confirmed.

The report, published last week after five years of investigation, blamed the Dutch government and senior military officials as well as the United Nations for failing to prevent thetragedy.

Prime Minister Wim Kok's coalition government met for crisis talks on Tuesday morning before deciding to resign en masse. Environment minister Jan Pronk and defense minister Frank de Gravehad threatened to quit after the report's release.

The Srebrenica report said the Dutch government had sent its peacekeepers on a "mission impossible" to protect Srebrenica. Some7,500 Muslim men and boys were reportedly killed by Bosnian Serb forces who overran the eastern Bosnian enclave two years after theU.N. declared it a safe haven.

General elections are already planned for May in the Netherlands. Kok said last year he would not seek reelection.

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