PM: Serbia's 'Reconciliation' with Bosnia to Continue despite Incident

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday affirmed his commitment to reconciliation with Bosnian Muslims after a stone-throwing mob chased him from a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.

"I regret that something like this has happened. I regret that some did not recognize our sincere intention to build a sincere friendship between Serbs and Bosniaks (Muslims)," Vucic told reporters upon his return to Belgrade. "My hand remains outstretched (to Bosnian Muslims) and I will continue with my policy of reconciliation" between the two Balkan nations, he said.

The prime minister said a stone hit his mouth but he was not injured. His glasses fell on the ground and broke.

Vucic, whose country backed Bosnian Serbs during and after the 1990s inter-ethnic war in Bosnia, was among numerous dignitaries, including former US president Bill Clinton, and tens of thousands of people attending the commemoration in the eastern Bosnian town.

Shortly before arriving, Vucic condemned the "monstrous crime" in Srebrenica, where some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered by Bosnian Serb forces who captured Srebrenica in July 1995, near the end of the war.