Mladic War Crimes Trial Stopped Over 'Errors'

The war crimes trial of Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic has been halted after prosecution "errors".

The presiding judge said the adjournment - on day two of the hearing - was because prosecutors failed to fully disclose all their evidence to Mladic's defence team.

"The hearing is adjourned sine die," said judge Alphons Orie.

"(The court) has decided to suspend the start of the presentation of the prosecution evidence."

Judge Orie said judges are still analysing the "scope and full impact" of the error and aim to establish a new starting date "as soon as possible".

The presentation of evidence was supposed to begin later this month.Prosecutors did not object to the delay. Mladic's attorney has asked for a six-month delay.

Earlier, prosecutors wrapped up their opening statement in the trial by recounting in painstaking and chilling detail cases of systematic murder by Bosnian Serb forces.

The forces were commanded by Mladic and thousands of Muslim men and boys in Bosnia's Srebrenica enclave died in July 1995, Europe's worst massacre since World War II.Exact numbers of the Srebrenica massacre range from 7,000 to 8,000.

"In a period of only five days, from July 12-16, 1995, the armed forces of (Bosnian Serb leader) Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic expelled the civilian population of Srebrenica and murdered over 7,000 Srebrenica men and boys," prosecutor Peter McCloskey said.Mladic's army "carried out their murderous orders with ... dedication and military efficiency," he added.Mladic, the 70-year-old former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, showed no emotion on the second day of his genocide trial.

Mr McCloskey showed judges a fleeting video of what he said were the bodies of executed Muslim men piled in front of a bullet-riddled wall.

On the first day of the trial on Wednesday, the court's public gallery was crowded with relatives of the slain men.

They angrily exchanged hand gestures with Mladic through the bulletproof glass screen separating them.

On Thursday, most of the survivors had left.

Videos showing a bullish Mladic strutting through the deserted streets of Srebrenica and berating the commander of Dutch UN peacekeepers were shown.

One woman, Hatidza Mehmedovic, wept in the court's lobby during a break in the proceedings."I buried both of my sons and my husband. Now I live alone with memories of my children," she said.

"I would never wish even Mladic to go through what I go through. Not Mladic or Karadzic. Let God judge them."Mladic is accused of commanding Bosnian Serb troops who waged a campaign of murder and persecution to drive Muslims and Croats out of territory they considered part of Serbia.

His troops rained shells and snipers' bullets down on civilians in the 44-month-long siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.He has refused to enter pleas, but denies wrongdoing. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.The first witness is scheduled to testify July 29, although that may be delayed due to problems with prosecutors disclosing evidence to Mladic's lawyers.