SKABRNJA MARKS NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF SERB MASSACRE OF CROATS

SKABRNJA, Nov 18 (Hina) - Skabrnja, a village off the central Adriatic coast, on Saturday held a commemoration marking the ninth anniversary of a massacre of local Croats killed at the beginning and during last decade's Serb aggression on Croatia. Attending the commemoration at the site of a mass grave were about 1,000 local residents, and representatives of local authorities, the government, parliament, political parties, and the clergy. At the beginning of the commemoration, municipal council president Nediljko Bubnjar recalled that on 18 Nov. 1991, Serb paramilitary units and members of the former Yugoslav federal army seizing Skabrnja killed 55 Croatian soldiers and civilians. Addressing the present, parliamentary deputy speaker Ivica Kostovic said "the Croatian people, defending Vukovar and Skabrnja, defended Europe's civilisation." He said criminals had to be prosecuted. Skabrnja was liberated during 1995's military and police operation Storm. During the four years it had been occupied by the Serbs, 86 people were killed. (hina) ha