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CNN Saturday Morning News
Hundreds Gather at Srebrenica for Opening of Memorial
Aired September 20, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Bad memories and tears in a former war zone this morning. Thousands of people have gathered at a cemetery in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina for the opening of a special memorial. The ceremony ended just a few minutes ago and included former President Bill Clinton. He held open the memorial for up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys who were killed in a massacre in July 1995 during the Bosnian War.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us now with more on today's ceremony.
Christiane, good morning to you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the massacre of Bosnian Muslim boys and men in Srebrenica in July of 1995 galvanized the Clinton administration into action.
For years, the Bosnian War had been going on, but after that, after what happened in Srebrenica, President Clinton gathered together a political and military coalition and launched a NATO campaign against the Bosnian Serb positions, which led to the Dayton Peace Accords and peace in Bosnia.
And it's for that reason that the survivors of the victims of Srebrenica have invited him today to open this memorial to those victims.
He came. He spoke movingly. He quoted from the Koran and from the bible. And he said that this must never happen again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Srebrenica was the beginning of the end of genocide in Europe. It enabled me to secure NATO support for the bombing that led to the peace that put Bosnia- Herzegovina back on the long road for a normal life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: President Clinton also, while he watched over the burial of 107 of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre, there at that cemetery, that memorial cemetery there, he also spoke about the peacekeeping force that his administration had gathered amongst many countries around the world, 60,000 peacekeepers for the tiny country of Bosnia.
And he said that they must stay, those there, and in Kosovo if the peace was to be given a real and full chance of being secured.
Clinton has been in the Balkans for a couple of days. Yesterday, he was in Kosovo in the capitol Prishtina. That also was a country where he had gathered a NATO coalition to stop the slaughter of the Kosovo Muslims by the forces of the Serbs and of the Yugoslavs.
There, he was treated like a hero. He was given a hero's welcome in the capital city because he is considered also there to be the savior of the Kosovo Albanians.
And already commentators and news reports are pointing to comparisons between what is going on in the Balkans in the post- conflict, which is a pretty stable and secure environment, and what is going on in Iraq, which is much less secure and stable.
And Clinton also pointing out that his administration had gathered not only a peacekeeping force, but a coalition plan for rebuilding and political development in both Bosnia and in Kosovo - Heidi?
COLLINS: And obviously much earlier in the Iraq rebuilding and stabilization effort, that's for sure. Christiane Amanpour, live from London this morning. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 20, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Bad memories and tears in a former war zone this morning. Thousands of people have gathered at a cemetery in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina for the opening of a special memorial. The ceremony ended just a few minutes ago and included former President Bill Clinton. He held open the memorial for up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys who were killed in a massacre in July 1995 during the Bosnian War.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us now with more on today's ceremony.
Christiane, good morning to you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the massacre of Bosnian Muslim boys and men in Srebrenica in July of 1995 galvanized the Clinton administration into action.
For years, the Bosnian War had been going on, but after that, after what happened in Srebrenica, President Clinton gathered together a political and military coalition and launched a NATO campaign against the Bosnian Serb positions, which led to the Dayton Peace Accords and peace in Bosnia.
And it's for that reason that the survivors of the victims of Srebrenica have invited him today to open this memorial to those victims.
He came. He spoke movingly. He quoted from the Koran and from the bible. And he said that this must never happen again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Srebrenica was the beginning of the end of genocide in Europe. It enabled me to secure NATO support for the bombing that led to the peace that put Bosnia- Herzegovina back on the long road for a normal life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: President Clinton also, while he watched over the burial of 107 of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre, there at that cemetery, that memorial cemetery there, he also spoke about the peacekeeping force that his administration had gathered amongst many countries around the world, 60,000 peacekeepers for the tiny country of Bosnia.
And he said that they must stay, those there, and in Kosovo if the peace was to be given a real and full chance of being secured.
Clinton has been in the Balkans for a couple of days. Yesterday, he was in Kosovo in the capitol Prishtina. That also was a country where he had gathered a NATO coalition to stop the slaughter of the Kosovo Muslims by the forces of the Serbs and of the Yugoslavs.
There, he was treated like a hero. He was given a hero's welcome in the capital city because he is considered also there to be the savior of the Kosovo Albanians.
And already commentators and news reports are pointing to comparisons between what is going on in the Balkans in the post- conflict, which is a pretty stable and secure environment, and what is going on in Iraq, which is much less secure and stable.
And Clinton also pointing out that his administration had gathered not only a peacekeeping force, but a coalition plan for rebuilding and political development in both Bosnia and in Kosovo - Heidi?
COLLINS: And obviously much earlier in the Iraq rebuilding and stabilization effort, that's for sure. Christiane Amanpour, live from London this morning. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
