ZAGREB, July 29 (AFP) - Croatia on Thursday hailed a UN court ruling slashing the jail term of a Bosnian Croat general from 45 to nine years, saying it was a historic contribution to uncovering the truth about Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
But in neighbouring Bosnia Muslims voiced outrage over the verdict against Tihomir Blaskic, the wartime commander of Croat forces in central Bosnia, describing it as a "mockery of justice."
Blaskic was acquitted on all but three of the 19 counts against him by the appeals chamber of the UN war crimes tribunal.
"Croatia's justice ministry welcomes the verdict of The Hague tribunal's appeals chamber," a statement said.
"It was reached after a thorough investigation of all the facts and evidence in this case and it will certainly be a historic contribution to establishing the truth about the conflicts in central Bosnia."
Although they were allies against Bosnian Serbs during most of Bosnia's 1992-95 war, ethnic Croat and Muslims also fought against each other for 11 months during the 1993-94 period.
The then nationalist regime of Croatia, led by the late Franjo Tudjman, backed a bid by ethnic Croat secessionists to become part of Croatia.
Blaskic's convictions for ordering attacks on Muslim civilians in the central Bosnian Lasva valley, including the horrific massacre of over 100 people in the village of Ahmici on April 16, 1993, were all overturned.
Only three counts of war crimes for detaining civilians were upheld, ordering the use of detainees to dig trenches and using some as human shields to protect his headquarters in Vitez, central Bosnia, during heavy shelling.
"I'm shocked. The Hague tribunal has become a farce. Its work is a political game, it's a mockery of justice," Atif Ahmic, a 45-year-old from Ahmici, whose mother and father were killed in the massacre, told AFP.
"One responsible for murder of a single person gets here (in Bosnia) a 15-year sentence, and Blaskic responsible for the deaths of thousands of Muslims in this area is sentenced to only nine. It makes no sense."
Mevzudin Pezer, who lost the mother in the massacre, did not hide his deep disappointment with the ruling.
"People here have lost respect for the (UN) tribunal."
Blaskic, 43, who also holds Croatian citizenship, surrendered voluntarily to the tribunal in April 1996.
Since he has been in custody for more than eight years, the appeals chamber sentence will mean he will in effect only serve a few more months.
The verdict brought to an end one of the longest running and most complicated cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).