Hans van Mierlo, Dutch foreign minister at time of fall of Srebrenica, dies at age 78

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Former Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo has died of liver disease, the social democratic party he helped establish announced. He was 78

Van Mierlo, who died late Thursday, was foreign minister in 1995 when outnumbered and outgunned Dutch peacekeepers looked on helplessly as Bosnian Serb forces overran the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia and went on to massacre some 8,000 Muslim men.

He quit politics two years later.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a statement Van Mierlo worked "with his heart and soul" for four decades to improve Dutch society.

Van Mierlo was one of the founders in 1966 of the Democrats 66. He was Defence Minister from 1981-82 and Foreign Minister from 1994-98.

He is survived by his wife Connie Palmen.