SARAJEVO, June 24 (Reuters) - Bosnian Muslim wartime commander Naser Oric was jailed for two years on Wednesday for the illegal possession of weapons and explosive devices but the Sarajevo court acquitted him of extortion charges. Oric was arrested in October, three months after the U.N. war crimes tribunal overturned his conviction for failing to stop the murder of Bosnian Serbs more than a decade ago. The court said Oric was found guilty of possessing weapons and banned ammunition but could not prove charges that he extorted 240,000 Bosnian marka ($171,500) from a Bosnian family. Oric, who organised the defence of the eastern enclave of Srebrenica during the 1992-95 war, was originally convicted in 2006 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes against Bosnian Serbs. But after an appeal, the Hague-based court acquitted him of all charges last July and Oric is regarded as a hero by many Muslims for leading the defence of Srebrenica which was later overrun by Bosnian Serbs who killed 8,000 Muslims. However, the overturned conviction angered many Bosnian Serbs who see the tribunal as biased against them and say that more than 3,000 of their own people had been killed by forces under Oric's command. (Reporting by Maja Zuvela; Editing by Alison Williams)
Tamil supporters demonstrate outside the grounds during the ICC World Twenty20 warm-up cricket match between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Lord's Cricket Ground in London June 3 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown ...
