(27 Mar 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of people gathered
2. People signing up petition supporting secession
3. Close of sign reading (in Serbian)
4. Police
5. Wide of banner reading (in Serbian) "Kosovo is Serbia"
6. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Dane Cankovic, from "The Choice is Ours" organisation
"We will fight for the Serb assembly to pronounce Republika Srpska as an independent state. If Kosovo Albanians, as a minority in Serbia, can pronounce their independence, we should be able to do the same."
7. Wide people with Serbian flags
8. Close of petition
9. People signing petition
10. Wide of people
11. Sign reading (in Serbian)
12. Various of protest
13. Police
STORYLINE
Up to two thousand Bosnian Serbs gathered in Banja Luka on Thursday to demand independence for their mini-state.
The peaceful protest was organised by a non-governmental organisation called "The Choice is Ours", which campaigns for an independent Republika Srpska.
"If Kosovo Albanians, as a minority in Serbia, can pronounce their independence, we should be able to do the same," the organisation's Dane Cankovic told AP Television.
Bosnia is divided into two mini-states, one for the Bosnian Serbs and the
other shared by Bosniaks and Croats.
Bosniaks and Croats have frequently called for the unification of the country, but the Serbs object, often threatening a referendum for the independence of their portion of the country.
The current setup of the country was defined by the 1995 peace agreement,
brokered in Dayton, Ohio, which ended the three and a half year war.
Part of the agreement is the current constitution nobody is happy with.
Bosniak politicians in particular are eager to get rid of the division,
because they see the creation of the Bosnian Serb mini state, Republika
Srpska, as a reward for the genocide Serbs committed during the war.
Bosnian Serbs have said each call for unification will be met by calls for
a Bosnian Serb referendum for independence.
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