Sofia - The arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karazic is "a relief for Europe," the head of Bulgaria's parliamentary foreign affairs committee said Tuesday.

The move would also accelerate the integration of Serbia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Montenegro into European structures, Solomon Passi told the Bulgarian news agency BETA.

"Serbia and Bosnia have been resurrected for a new life in Europe, said Passi, a former foreign minister, adding that the arrest would "help overcome the legacy of the past" on the Balkans.

Sarajevo/Banja Luka  - Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik welcomed Tuesday the arrest of the most wanted war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, saying Karadzic's arrest in Belgrade proved that he was not in the Srpska Republic, the Bosnian Serb entity.

"All those who were claiming for years that Karadzic was here, pressing and punishing the Srpska Republic for not arresting him, could see now that he could not be arrested here as he was not in here," Dodik said in Banja Luka.

Sarajevo - Forensic experts completed excavation of a mass grave near the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica on Friday.

Sarajevo - Five people were injured in an explosion at the blast furnace of a steelworks in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, company officials confirmed Friday.

Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina - More than 40,000 people were expected Friday to attend the 13th commemoration of the massacre in the former eastern Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica.

Sarajevo- The courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina face "serious challenges" in trying war crimes cases outstanding from the 1992-95 war and need international assistance, Human Rights Watch said in Sa