Resources of the Week: Voice of America Pronunciation Guide…and a few others « ResourceShelf

Image by CJ Sorg via Flickr

By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

If you want to sound sophisticated and worldly — or just not embarrass yourself — when discussing current affairs, take a look at the VOA Pronunciation Guide. It’s a repository of pronunciation keys and audio files (mp3) for people and places in the news from around the world. The search form is easily understood — use the “Exact Search” box if you’re sure of how to spell the name, the “Near Search” box if you’re not sure, the “List Lookup” dropdown menu if you want to browse through the entire database, or the “Origin” dropdown menu to view names by country. A Help screen and a Pronunciation Key are available.

An addition resource at this site is a Nations and their Languages guide. This information is culled from the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the Information Please Almanac, and the CIA’s World Factbook.

A few other pronunciation guides we like:

+ Asian Names Pronunciation Guide, from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Native speakers who were/are Cal Poly Pomona students provided all sound samples (in .wav format) for Cambodian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese names.

+

Image by magdalar via Flickr

HearNames.com: The advanced search form is a gem. The dropdown “Category” menu presents a number of interesting options, such as U.S. Presidents, Armenian Surnames, Russian Names, etc. These are also available via the Name Categories link on the top navigation bar.

+ Pronounce Names: The Dictionary of Name Pronunciation

In today’s international business environment, it is exceedingly important to say your clients name correctly, you CANNOT afford to call Dumass, a Dumb-ass. The internet has removed international boundaries and people are making new friends via email and chat every second, would you not want your friends to be able to pronounce your name correctly?

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Pinky Thakkar (silent “h”), an engineer from Mumbai, started the Web site www.pronouncenames.com after she moved to San Jose, Calif., and mispronounced the “J” in “San Jose,” not giving it the “H” sound used in Spanish words. Properly pronouncing person and place names proved nearly impossible for Ms. Thakkar and her friends from abroad, she says.

More than 75,000 entries, including 38,000 audio files, have been submitted to Ms. Thakkar’s Web site since it launched in 2006. She manages the site with six other volunteers.

+ LanguageGuide.org: You’ll find a variety of volunteer-created resources here. The Pictorial Vocabulary Guides are especially charming. Select a language, choose a category, and then roll your cursor over a letter, number or picture to hear its name pronounced, such as the birds (os pássaros) in Brazilian Portuguese, or sea animals (umi no ikimono) in Japanese.

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Rights group decries Iran’s ban on 60 foreign organizations

Image by wstera2 via Flickr

Updated: Wednesday, January 06, 2010

18:30GMT—1:30PM/EST

Washington, 6 January (WashingtonTV)—Amnesty International said on Wednesday that it fears that a ban by the Iranian government on contact between Iranian citizens with 60 organizations, including human rights groups, will further isolate the population.

On Monday, the deputy intelligence minister for foreign affairs said that it was an offense to communicate with the groups, which were accused of having played a role in inciting unrest following June’s disputed presidential election.

Among the groups blacklisted were Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as media outlets such as the BBC and the US-government funded Voice of America [VOA].

“The move leaves anyone making such contacts at risk of prosecution and appears designed to hide from the world the true scale of what is happening in Iran and to obstruct reporting on human rights violations,” Amnesty International said in a statement.

The deputy intelligence minister, who was not named, also stated that it is illegal for political groups and parties to receive any financial and non-financial aid from abroad.

The official also called on Iranian citizens to avoid “unconventional contacts” with embassies, foreign nationals or centers linked to the banned organizations, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

Amnesty International also condemned the recent arrests of journalists and human rights defenders in Iran, who it said have been instrumental in providing information on the “gross right violations occurring in Iran”.

Both the ban on contact with the 60 international groups and the arrests are a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party, said the human rights group.

On Wednesday, the pro-reform website, Rahesabz, said that Iran has arrested more than 180 people in recent days, following anti-government protests on 27 December.

Sources: Amnesty International website, IRIB News, Rahesabz website

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U.S. Detains Voice of America Journalist Fleeing Threats at Home in Pakistan

By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 14, 2009

U.S. immigration officials have detained a Pakistani journalist employed by the U.S.-sponsored Voice of America news service who was hoping to find refuge in the United States after Islamic militants in Pakistan destroyed his house and threatened his life.

Rahman Bunairee, 33, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon upon arriving at Dulles International Airport, according to VOA officials.

It is not clear why Bunairee was detained.

Joan Mower, a spokeswoman for VOA, declined to comment on the particulars of Bunairee's detention other than to say: "VOA is obviously extremely concerned. We're really upset about what's happened to this guy."

Cori Bassett, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed that Bunairee is in the agency's custody but said she could not release further details because of privacy reasons.

Bunairee, in addition to filing reports for VOA's Pashto-language radio service, is a popular reporter with the privately owned Pakistani broadcaster Khyber TV. He is usually based in the southern port city of Karachi, but he is originally from the Buner district of Pakistan's embattled North-West Frontier Province near the Afghanistan border, where the Taliban and other Islamic militant groups are active. He recently returned to that region to cover a series of major offensives against the militants by the Pakistani military.

In the past, the militants enjoyed a measure of support, or at least tolerance, among many Pakistanis. But the public mood shifted markedly against the militants this spring, partly because of local media reports about their cruel practices in Buner and other districts then under their control.

On July 7, Bunairee participated in a VOA call-in radio show in which he discussed the Taliban's continued presence in Buner despite a major campaign by the Pakistani military to oust them last May, Mower said.

Two nights later, several dozen armed militants went to Bunairee's family compound in Buner.

Bunairee was not there. The militants told his father that because Bunairee was "speaking against them," they had orders to destroy the house. The men allowed Bunairee's family, including his wife and four children, to leave, then ransacked the house and leveled it with explosives.

That night in the Buner district, militants bombed the home of another journalist, Behroz Khan, a reporter for Pakistan's English daily, the News.

Most recently, Taliban militants flattened the houses of at least six journalists in the neighboring district of Swat before fleeing advancing Pakistani forces, according to Bob Dietz, Asia program coordinator for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Soon after Bunairee's home was destroyed, gunmen scaled the wall surrounding Khyber TV's bureau in Karachi, several hundred miles south of Buner, and announced that they were looking for him, Dietz said.

Alarmed, officials at VOA arranged to bring Bunairee to the United States on a J-1 visa, often used by research institutions to bring in scholars and experts on temporary visits.

"We're expanding our Pashto broadcasting, and he was going to be working on that," Mower said.

Dietz stressed that Bunairee was not seeking to relocate to the United States but wanted to spend some time outside Pakistan until matters cooled.

He added that he was particularly concerned about the message that Bunairee's detention sends.

"It's mortifying," he said. "Here's a journalist who has performed a valuable service by reporting from an area critical to U.S. security. And our country is slamming the door in his face."

Activist Says Thousands Missing in China's Uighur Province

By Akiko Fujita Tokyo 29 July 2009

Fujita report - Download (MP3)
Fujita report - Listen (MP3)

Rebiya Kadeer, head of pro-independence World Uighur Congress, speaks during press conference at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, 29 Jul 2009

The exiled leader of China's Uighur minority group has sharply criticized the Chinese government and called for an independent investigation into recent unrest in Xinjiang. Rebiya Kadeer is in Tokyo to seek support for the mainly Muslim community.

Rebiya Kadeer described a scene of chaos and bloodshed on the night of July 5 - clashes with police and a barrage of gunshots throughout Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

The head of the World Uighur Congress told Japanese journalists Wednesday that Chinese officials watched it all unfold and never stepped in to calm tensions.

She says that China claims 190 people died that day but she does not believe that. She says 10,000 people vanished overnight. "If they were killed where are the bodies? If they were taken away, where are they now?" she asked.

The violence began July 5 as Uighurs protested the way police had handled attacks on a Uighur workers in southeastern China.

A few days later, members of China's dominant Han ethnic group rampaged through Uighur neighborhoods in retaliation.

Since the fifth, Kadeer says Chinese police have gone door to door to seek out and detain Uighur men without cause. She worries about how much longer that will continue. She is visiting Japan to draw attention to that problem and seek help from the government.

She asks the Japanese government to begin its own investigation into the riots and search for the 10,000 missing. She also asked government leaders to pressure the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation.

China accuses Kadeer, who now lives in the United States, of masterminding the unrest. The Beijing government criticized Japan for allowing the exiled leader to visit, calling her a "criminal." Kadeer denies any involvement in the clashes and says the tension can only be resolved by direct talks between Beijing and Uighur leaders.

The Uighurs, who make up about half of the population of Xinjiang in northwestern China, complain of discrimination and say the government limits their religious practices. The Chinese government, however, says the Uighurs receive benefits that the Han do not, such as the right to have more children, and says Uighur dissidents want to create a separate nation in Xinjiang.

HRW: Nigerian Forces Arbitrarily Killed Dozens In Jos

By VOA News 20 July 2009

Human Rights Watch has called on Nigerian authorities to prosecute security personnel who allegedly killed more than 130 people during sectarian violence last year.

Representatives of the group testified Monday before a judicial commission of inquiry in Nigeria's Plateau state.

In a report released Monday, Human Rights Watch accuses soldiers and police of arbitrarily killing 133 men and boys, nearly all of them Muslim, in the city of Jos last November.

It says most of the killings occurred November 29, the day after clashes between Muslim and Christian mobs killed several hundred people in Jos.

The report says police and soldiers shot unarmed citizens, and lined up victims on the ground before executing them.

Reuters news agency quotes a Plateau state police spokesman (Mohammed Lerama) as saying the accusations are not true.

The judicial commission has been tasked with looking into the causes of the Jos violence and identifying the people or groups responsible.

The violence erupted after the city's Muslim and Christian communities disputed the results of a local election.

Sectarian violence has flared before in Jos. Hundreds of people were killed there during street fighting in 2001.

Plateau State sits in Nigeria's "middle belt" region that separates the country's mainly Christian south from the predominantly Muslim north.

Mauritania Opposition Rejects Presidential Election Results

By Scott Stearns Nouakchott, Mauritania 19 July 2009 Mauritanian opposition candidates are rejecting results from a presidential election that show former military leader Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz winning. With more than 70 percent of ballots counted, Mauritania's electoral commission says Aziz is winning more than 52 percent of the vote. If that count holds up, the leader of last August's coup would win election in the first round - avoiding a run-off in which his main political opponents had vowed to unite against him. Those opponents immediately rejected the provisional results as an "electoral charade, which is trying to legitimize the coup." In a joint statement, Ahmed Ould Daddah, Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, and Hamai Ould Meimou denounced what they called "prefabricated results." They are calling for the international community to investigate what they say were voting irregularities, including counting opposition ballots for Aziz. The opposition leaders are asking "competent bodies", including the country's constitutional council and Interior Ministry to not validate the results. Their joint statement is urging Mauritanians to mobilize to defeat what opposition leaders are calling an "electoral coup d'etat." During the campaign, Daddah said he was quiet when he says vote fraud denied him victory in presidential elections in 1991 and 2007. But he said this time he is not prepared to be silent if the election is stolen and told his supporters neither should they. Arab electoral observers monitored more than 300 of Mauritania's 2,500 polling stations. They saw irregularities including partisan electoral officials, security forces inside polling stations, and the denial of voters who registered after June 6th - most of whom support the opposition. But the group's preliminary report says it does not believe those irregularities will affect the overall outcome of the vote. Mohsen Marzouk is Secretary General of the Arab Democracy Foundation. Marzouk says Mauritania is a crucial point that will affect all its people. He called for political parties and official institutions to adhere strictly to democracy as the best way to solve the political crisis and promote stability and development. Arab observers say they will consider opposition complaints and include them in its final report. Boulkheir and Daddah had both publicly pledged to support the other in a potential run-off against Aziz if no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote. This election was meant to restore constitutional rule to Mauritania after Aziz led a coup 11 months ago that toppled the nation's first freely-elected leader. Aziz ran a populist campaign, calling himself the "Candidate of the Poor" pledging to improve access to health care while lowering food and fuel prices. To the cheers of his supporters, he vowed to build more jails to imprison his political opponents, who he says are corrupt. Aziz campaigned far longer than most of his opponents as he began running for a previously-scheduled June election that he agreed to postpone as part of a power-sharing deal that included the opposition dropping their electoral boycott.

Indonesian Police Say Jakarta Bombings Are Work of Jemaah Islamiyah

By Brian Padden Jakarta 19 July 2009

Indonesian Police say the bombings of two hotels in Jakarta on Friday was the work of Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group with al-Qaida ties. Analysts say it is likely that Noordin Top, a Malaysian fugitive who leads an affiliated group within a Southeast Asian militant network, planned and organized the attacks. The two blasts killed nine people, including the two suspected attackers, and wounded 50, many of them foreigners.

Indonesian national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna says the bombing attacks on the Marriott and Ritz Carlton Hotels in Jakarta on Friday were the work of Jemaah Islamiyah. The group with ties to Al-Qaida, has carried out dozens of bombings in Indonesia in the past decade, including a 2002 attack in Bali that left more than 200 people dead, mostly foreign tourists.

A poster bearing image of Southeast Asia terror ringleaders Noordin M. Top, left, and Azhari bin Husin is put on a tree in Jakarta (File)

He told reporters Sunday an unexploded bomb left in a guest room of the Marriott hotel, which was attacked along with the nearby Ritz-Carlton, resembled explosives used in Bali and one discovered in a recent raid on an Islamic boarding school.

Sidney Jones, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, says Noordin Top, a Malaysian who leads the most militant faction of Jemaah Islamiyah, is the likely organizer of the attacks.

"Noordin is the only person of the various leaders of radical groups in Indonesia who is continued to be determined to attack western targets and particularly American targets," said Jones.

Jones says Noordin has used suicide bombers in the past like the ones used in Friday's attacks. And she says before the bombing police had some intelligence indicating Noordin may have been planning something.

"It was clear in the last two weeks that something was afoot. And the police were very actively searching this area in South Central Java called Cilacap because they believe some of Noordin's associates were active there," said Jones. "And we now know there is linkage between explosive materials used in these hotel bombings with some of the materials found in Cilacap by police."

But Jones says Noordin Top may have split from the main Jemaah Islamiyah organization, or JI, which had recently turned away from violence because it was turning public opinion against them.

"The bulk of JI members are not interested in violence now because they regard this kind of bombing as counter-productive," added Jones. "They need to rebuild their organization and they do that by recruiting new members through religious outreach. This kind of bombing does not bring you any new members, it creates outrage in the community."

Jones says bombing the Marriott Hotel, which was also attacked in 2003, was probably meant to demonstrate that their group is still active and able penetrate the increased security.

Voters in Mauritania Prepare for Saturday Election

By Scott Stearns Nouakchott 17 July 2009

Supporters of Mauritania's former military leader Mohamed Ould Abedl Aziz attend a political rally in the southern city of Rosso, 17 Jul 2009

Voters in Mauritania go to the polls Saturday to choose a new president. It is an election to restore constitutional order following last year's military coup.

Friday is a day of reflection in Mauritania for voters to consider what they have heard from candidates over the past two weeks.

So what are people thinking?

This university student in the southern city of Rosso says former military leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is the right man to lead Mauritania because he is determined to fight corrupt politicians.

"I support him because President Aziz is a man of actions and thought," he said. "Most Mauritanian people support him because he came and tried to make dramatic change in this country, and we as people, we as poor people, we must go with him side-to-side and shoulder-to-shoulder."

Aziz led the coup last August that toppled Mauritania's first democratically-elected leader.

He refused African Union demands to restore civilian authority and changed the constitution to allow retired soldiers to run for office before resigning his commission to run for president.

Opposition candidate Ahmed Ould Daddah's campaign posters ask, "Do you want to be finished with coups d'etat?" Daddah is a former Central Bank Governor who says Mauritanians can end the cycle of coups and transitional governments in favor of a real democracy where decisions are made by voters not soldiers.

This Daddah supporter in the capital says Aziz is going to fall and break because of the electoral alliance between Daddah and opposition lawmaker Messaoud Ould Boulkheir.

Dadah and Boulkheir have both vowed publicly to support the other in a potential runoff against Aziz. Boulkheir is a former president of the National Assembly who says this is a vote about defeating those who take power through military force.

This woman leaving Boulkheir's closing campaign rally says he is the one who will become president, God willing. She says he represents and supports all Mauritanians and is the one who can do things for the whole country.

More than 250 electoral observers from the Arab League and African Union are here to monitor Saturday's vote. Results are expected within 48 hours. If no one wins more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters will face-off in a second-round of balloting August 1.

Pakistan Court Tosses Out Sharif Conviction

By VOA News 17 July 2009

Nawaz Sharif (file photo)

Pakistan's Supreme Court has overturned a hijacking conviction against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, clearing the way for the popular politician to run for public office again.

Sharif was found guilty of "hijacking" then army chief Pervez Musharraf's plane, by not allowing it to land in October of 1999. The plane eventually landed and Mr. Musharraf seized control of Pakistan in a coup, later becoming president. Mr. Sharif went into exile.

The high court on Friday acquitted Mr. Sharif, saying the charges of hijacking and terrorism do not stand. A spokesman for former prime minister Sadiqul Farooq hailed the ruling.

In May, the Supreme Court overturned a ban on Mr. Sharif seeking office. The former prime minister's party (Pakistan Muslim League - N) came in second during last year's parliamentary elections. The party was once part of a ruling coalition, but later moved to the opposition.

Mr. Sharif met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Lahore Friday.

Mr. Sharif was barred from holding office following the 1999 conviction. A high court decision in February to uphold the ban and nullify the election of his brother Shahbaz as chief minister of Punjab province sparked massive protests.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters

Former Iranian President Criticizes Hard-Liners in Sermon

By Edward Yeranian Cairo 17 July 2009

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivers his sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University in the Iranian capital, 17 Jul 2009

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a blistering Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University, before a crowd of thousands, warning those in high places to abide by the will of the people and to heal the wounds of the recent crisis.

Thousands of people chanted as they listened to former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani deliver his much-anticipated Friday prayer sermon, and key figures of the opposition movement, including defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammed Khatami, attended in a calculated show of force.

Former President Rafsanjani delivered a scathing attack against those in power, arguing that "if the people are not content with the government, it loses its legitimacy." He said this was the "way of the Imam, [Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini]" and also the "way of the Prophet [Mohammed]."

The former president also peppered his sermon with anecdotes of his years alongside the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini noting that the Ayatollah withdrew his support for (former Prime Minister Mehdi) Bazargan, after he had lost the support of the people.

In a clear allusion to the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president Rafsanjani argued that the Prophet (Mohammed) warned one of his followers that "if the people aren't happy with you, then you cannot rule over them."

He stressed "The people are the backbone of the Islamic Republic," and he said,"we have an Islamic system, but we are above all a republic, which rests on the will of the people, and all of our officials are elected by the people."

The former president insisted that the only way out of the current crisis, which began with the disputed June 12 presidential election, was for "everyone to follow the law, including the president, the parliament and [the other] branches of the [republic]."

Only Iranian radio broadcast Friday's prayer sermon, however, in an apparent display of hostility by the pro-Ahmadinejad faction which controls Iranian TV.

Iranian TV, instead, focused on a speech by embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the city of Mashhad, Thursday, in which he launched his usual attacks against the West.

Al Arabiya TV reported that those in charge of the official Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IRIB) had been warned at the beginning of the week "not to televise the Rafsanjani sermon," and also "not to film the crowds in attendance."

The former president Rafsanjani also lashed out at the Iranian media for being biased in its coverage and insisted that the official government TV must "be a place where the people can debate their ideas," demanding that its airwaves be opened to everyone.

In the sermon, the appeal for a free media was followed by an appeal for the release of all prisoners who are now being held by the government in the wake of weeks of unrest following the disputed presidential election.

Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani Sadr, who lives in exile in Paris, however, thinks that Rafsandjani's remarks reveal that he has submitted to the will of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:

He says that Rafsanjani did what was expected of him, since he's a man of the regime. He's submitted to the will of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and will accept Mr. Ahmedinejad as president. In exchange, Rafsanjani didn't ask for much, he complains: the freeing of prisoners, compensation for those who were killed, and a small measure of free speech. It remains to be seen, he argues, if Mousavi accepts the deal, and if he does, then, this part of the saga is over. But, he notes, the people of Tehran are still chanting "down with the dictator," and they don't accept the proposal; they want their freedom.

Eyewitnesses say tens of thousands of supporters of Mr. Mousavi demonstrated in parts of the Iranian capital, after Friday prayers.

Indonesian President Calls Hotel Bombings Acts of Terror

By Brian Padden Jakarta 17 July 2009

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the two bombs that went off in the Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing eight people and wounding at least 50 more, are acts of terrorism.

Rescuers evacuate the body of a victim of the bomb explosion outside J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, 17 Jul 2009

Police pushed back crowds as paramedics carried out the bodies of five people who died in the blast at the Marriott hotel in an upscale business district in south Jakarta. A second bomb exploded at the nearby Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Witnesses say they heard loud explosions and saw clouds of smoke and dust shortly before eight in the morning.

Iwan, a waiter who was working at a Ritz-Carlton restaurant where one bomb was reportedly detonated, survived unharmed. He says he does not know whether it was a bomb or not in the restaurant, but there was a powerful explosion.

Police say the bombs exploded inside the hotels. The perpetrators were somehow able to avoid extensive hotel security. Jakarta's police chief says several suspects were staying at the Marriott hotel, on the 18th floor where undetonated explosives were found.

The two hotels are connected by an underground tunnel but the president's spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal says it is too early to speculate on how the bombs were planted.

"The minister for security affairs has stated that this is something of, a bomb of a high explosive, that is how he described it," he said. "But exactly what kind, what type, and how was it exploded and what is the modus operandi, that all remains to be determined."

Although those responsible have not yet been identified, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called the bombings terrorism. He says no matter what nation or religion, terrorism cannot be justified, whatever the motive or reason.

This is the first terrorist attack in Indonesia in four years and the second time the Marriott Hotel was bombed. That last attack in 2003 was blamed on the Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which also was responsible for attacks around the country that claimed more than 230 lives over the past nine years.

The president, who won re-election last week, also said security officials had received intelligence of plots to disrupt the election and prevent him from being inaugurated. He says there were plans to take over the election committee headquarters and statements that there will be a revolution if Yudhoyono wins.

He did not say what group made these threats.

A number of international business leaders who were meeting in the Marriott, including American James Castle, were injured in the blast. A New Zealand businessman was killed and an Australian trade official, Craig Senger, is missing and feared dead.

The British soccer club Manchester United, which was booked to stay at the Ritz Carlton starting Saturday, has canceled its visit to Jakarta.

Thousands Remember Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II

Tens of thousa

Bosnian Muslim women weep amidst coffins of Srebrenica victims during a funeral ceremony at the Memorial center of Potocari, near Srebrenica

nds of Bosnian Muslims have prayed and remembered the dead in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica on Saturday, the 14th anniversary of Europe's worst massacre since World War II. They also re-buried hundreds of victims recently recovered from mass graves. Saturday's ceremony came amid international concerns over remaining ethnic tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It took 14 long years to find and identify them. But on Saturday, at an emotionally charged ceremony, family members finally laid to rest 534 victims into pits next to the nearly 3,300 graves at the Srebrenica-Potocari memorial center.

The victims, including 44 teenagers, were among more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys who were killed when Serbian forces overran the Bosnian town of Srebrenica during the Balkan wars in July of 1995.

Bosnian Muslims had fled to Srebrenica as it was declared a United Nations "protected safe area for civilians." But the outnumbered U.N. troops never fired a shot as they were overrun by Serbian forces. Instead, they stood by as Serbian troops rounded up the population, separating males for execution.

On Saturday, thousands of people prayed and remembered Europe's worst massacre since World War Two. One elderly woman was close to tears when she explains that she is sad that the victims could not live to see this day.

A middle aged woman was overheard telling a reporter that she saw her young son during prayers in a mosque. Another family member said she has been hallucinating for the last 14 years.

The wounds of history have not yet healed. Serbian deputies in the Bosnian parliament have blocked an initiative to declare July 11 the "Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day" in the former Yugoslav republic.

Earlier the European Parliament proclaimed July 11 a day of commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide. Bosnia's inter-ethnic war cost thousands of lives and left the country split into two highly autonomous entities - the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serbs' Republika Srpska.

European Union officials, including Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister Peter Ammon, warn that these divisions will hold up Bosnia's attempt to join NATO and the EU. "In this regard we are concerned about the developments in Bosnia Herzegovina, the reform process there has almost come to a stand-still. And allow to be frank: Only Bosnia Herzegovina as a whole enjoys the European prospective, not its parts of entities. NATO and EU accession are a major step towards stabilization of the whole region," he said.

He spoke at a summit on Southeastern Europe in neighboring Croatia. Saturday's commemoration for the victims of Srebrenica was also attended by a United States congressional delegation that put a wreath near what is known as the Memorial Stone.

In a statement,U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Charles English said U.S. President Barack Obama has called the Srebrenica slaughter "a stain in our collective consciousness," and that the world has to ask itself how this genocide could have happened.

Last year Bosnian Serbian President Radovan Karadzic was captured and transferred to the United Nations Tribunal in The Hague. However another key suspect, former Bosnian Serbian commander, General Ratko Mladic, remains at large.