By Nedim Dervisbegovic SREBRENICA, Bosnia, March 12 (Reuters) - Bosnia's top Muslim and Croat officials have publicly supported a request for self-rule by Muslims in Srebrenica, a move vehemently opposed by authorities in the Serb Republic, which runs the town. The 1992-95 war between Serbs, Croats and Muslims ended with a peace deal splitting Bosnia into two parts, the Serb Republic and Muslim-Croat federation. Srebrenica, site of the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces, went to the Serb side. The town, 90 percent Muslim before the war, is now mostly Serb. But the remaining Muslims say the crime means Serbs should have no authority and Srebrenica should run its own affairs, and threatened to move out of the town if their demand is not met. In a statement issued on Monday after meeting local Muslim leaders, two out of Bosnia's three presidents, Muslim Haris Silajdzic and Croat Zeljko Komsic, backed the request. "The territory of the Srebrenica municipality needs to have the status of district and as such to be taken out from the jurisdiction of the Serb Republic institutions," they said in a statement. They also called for measures to solve some basic problems that Muslim residents face, such as lack of assistance, jobs and health care they said the Serb Republic had failed to deal with. The initiative, which proposes a status similar to that of the northern river port city of Brcko, a "neutral district", is unlikely to have any practical significance. It is unclear how it could become reality without the agreement of the Serbs at parliament level, and if it ever came to a popular vote in the town, it would be opposed by the Serb majority. But it is a reminder of the deep hostility towards the Serb Republic by most Bosnian Muslims and their politicians, who say it was founded on genocide and should be abolished. The issue returned to the headlines last month after a ruling by the International Court of Justice that the July 1995 massacre in the U.N. "safe area" constituted genocide. "I think this ruling is a chance for the international community to redeem itself for mistakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina which cost hunderds of thousands of lives," Silajdzic told reporters. The Serb Republic has long warned that any move to undermine its autonomy or authority would be cause for the region to hold an independence referendum. In a statement on Sunday, Serb Republic Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said the government would not hesitate to take measures to deal with the situation, including introducing a "temporary administration" and "holding all responsible individuals to account".
