ŠKRBIĆ: GENERAL MLADIĆ DESERVES TO BE REMEMBERED FOREVER FOR HIS HEROISM

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 7 /SRNA/ - Lieutenant General Petar Škrbić said today in his farewell speech at the funeral of General Ratko Mladić that the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska deserved to be remembered forever for his heroism by the people he stood up to defend when their very existence was under threat.

"If he deserved anything from the people in whom he believed without limit, it is to be remembered forever for his heroism, with the utmost respect," Škrbić, the general's comrade-in-arms, said.

He recalled General Mladić's words that a people deserve to be defended when their very existence is threatened.

In his farewell speech for General Mladić at the Topčider Cemetery in Belgrade, Škrbić recalled that General Mladić was an outstanding military operations officer and strategic thinker.

"He was stretched and pulled to the limit between what he wanted and what he was capable of doing - in God's providence and grace, so as not to wish harm upon anyone or inflict it through the crude use of force as a means of defense and deterrence," Škrbić said.

He also recalled the erosion of respect for General Mladić which, as he said, began during his lifetime with his humiliation, killing and mistreatment.

"It began with images of the exhausted face of a respected figure being shown for ridicule, reducing an individual to a state of pity, while in fact disgracing the state that the deceased had warned on several occasions that it would be attacked by NATO," Škrbić said.

He said that General Ratko Mladić had symbolically come back to life today. "Everyone has their own star that shines continuously, Ratko used to say. When someone's life comes to an end, their star shines if they have earned it in life," Škrbić said.

He said that the Serbs are victims of a process of destruction, but that their star is still shining.

General Mladić is being laid to rest at Topčider Cemetery with full military honors, in the presence of his family and a large number of citizens.

General Mladić died on August 27 at a detention hospital in The Hague.