A retired¹ US general has apologised for suggesting that Dutch troops failed to stop the Srebrenica massacre² in Bosnia in 1995 because some of them were gay.

一位退休美国将军曾暗示，荷兰军队未能阻止1995年发生在波斯尼亚的斯雷布雷尼察屠杀是因为军队中有些人是同性恋，日前该将军就此事进行道歉。

Supreme³ Allied⁴ Commander" width="226" height="170" src="/upimg/100331/4_064709_1.jpg" />
Gen Sheehan is a former Nato Supreme Allied Commander

Gen John Sheehan acknowledged that his views had been wrong, after the Dutch general he cited（引用） as his source denied having said anything of the kind.

He made the claim at a Senate hearing on whether openly gay people should be allowed to serve in the US military.

The comments caused a storm of controversy⁶（争论，辩论） in the Netherlands.

Srebrenica was a UN safe haven⁷ under the protection of Dutch peacekeepers when, in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran（泛滥，蔓延） the town, killing⁸ some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Earlier this month, Gen Sheehan - a former Nato commander - cited retired Gen Henk van den⁵ Breemen as one of the Dutch army chiefs who had allegedly said that gays were "part of the problem" in the fall of Srebrenica.

He told a US congressional hearing that European armies had been weakened by efforts to "socialise" them, including allowing gay soldiers to serve.

But in an e-mail to Gen Breemen released by the Dutch defence ministry⁹, Gen Sheehan said: "I am sorry that my recent public recollection（回忆） of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately¹⁰ reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military."

He added: "To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers."

A spokesman for the Dutch defence minister welcomed the apology, saying he was "satisfied" and "very pleased that the case is closed".