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 Words in the News
INTRO 
 In 1995 7000 people were killed in the town of Srebrenica when Bosnian Serb forces overran the area. 2000 muslims returned recently to mark the anniversary. Alex Kroeger of BBC News reported.
IN FULL  
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Muslims at Srebrinca

13th July 2000

Return to Srebrenica

NEWS 1 
 AudioListen to the first part of the report
  Fifteen year old Maja Daudovic was among the two thousand people who returned to Srebrenica to mark the anniversary of Europe’s worst massacre since the Second World War. She was only ten when her father disappeared, one of seven thousand men killed when Bosnian Serb forces overran the designated United Nations safe area in July 1995. It was the first time she had been back, she was on the convoy of more than forty buses which made its way to the UN compound just outside the town. It was there that Forces commanded by the indicted war criminal, General Ratko Mladic, separated the men from the women, sent the women out of the town and took the men away to be executed.
WORDS 
 

mark: if you mark something, you remember it, you commemorate it

anniversary: a date which is remembered or celebrated because an important event happened on that date in a previous year is called an anniversary

massacre: a massacre is when a large number of people are killed, often in a violent or cruel way

overran: if an area is overrun then a force occupies it very quickly

designated United Nations safe area: an official area controlled by the Untied Nations where civilians are supposed to be safe from attack

convoy: a convoy is a group of vehicles travelling together

made its way: if you make your way somewhere, you travel, go to that place.

indicted: a legal term which means someone has been officially charged with a crime

NEWS 2  AudioListen to the second part of the report
  To get back to Srebrenica today, the returnees had to brave angry Serbs who lined the last part of their route shouting threats and obscenities and making victory signs. The ceremony itself was simple and brief, two Muslim prayers to remember the dead. But earlier in the day, a reminder of the tensions which still exist here, a house belonging to some Muslim returnees was set on fire, it’s the fourth such fire in six weeks. On such a sensitive anniversary, it was a clear signal to any more of the Bosnian Muslims planning to return to the town
WORDS  

returnees: a returnee is a word for someone returning to a place

brave: if you have to brave something, you have to experience something negative, difficult or dangerous

obscenities: an obscenity is a rude or offensive comment designed to be insulting

tensions: feelings of fear and danger

Read about the background in BBC News Online

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