Barack Obama demands justice 15 years after Srebrenica

Barack Obama described the Srebrenica massacre as "a stain on our collective conscience" as hundreds of victims of the 1995 atrocity were buried.

In a statement read for him in the Bosnian town, the US president admitted the failure of the international community to protect the enclave, and said those responsible must be pursued.

More than 7,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops.

The massacre was the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War.

Hundreds of victims of the massacre were buried at a ceremony outside the town on Sunday.

The 775 coffins with the remains of newly identified victims from mass graves were laid to rest at the Potocari cemetery near Srebrenica.

European leaders and the presidents of all former Yugoslav republics who had gathered for the ceremony heard Mr Obama's words that "there can be no lasting peace without justice."

Obama urged "the prosecution and arrest of those that carried out the genocide," and added: "This includes Ratko Mladic who presided over the killings and remains at large."

Serbian President Boris Tadic attended the ceremony, in what was seen as a significant gesture.

For years Belgrade denied the scale of the slaughter, but in March Serbia's parliament passed a landmark resolution apologising for the massacre. It said Belgrade should have done more to prevent the tragedy, reports BBC News.

Tadic repeated his government's vow to track down the fugitive general. Speaking on Sunday, he said: "As the president of Serbia I will not give up the search for remaining culprits, and by this I first of all mean for Ratko Mladic."

The former Bosnian Serb general has been in hiding for almost 15 years and is believed to be in Serbia and has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the grimmest episode in the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.