"The Republika Srpska's (RS) government gave the green light to the defence ministry to destroy our stockpiles of obsolete surface-to-air missiles," Branko Trkulja, the defence ministry spokesman, told AFP.

Some 4,000 surface-to-air missiles will be destroyed in cooperation with NATO-led peacekeeepers in the near future, he said.

In mid-December the US ambassador to Bosnia Clifford Bond said he was worried shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles held by the Bosnian Serb army might end up in the wrong hands.

"They do represent a danger in the hands of terrorists," he said at the time warning of an "uspecified" threat stemming from foreigners who fought in Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

During the war volunteers from Islamic countries fought alongside the mainly Muslim Bosnian army. After the war a significant number of Islamic fighters remained in the country and obtained Bosnian citizenship mostly by marrying local women.

Republika Srpska along with the Muslim-Croat Federation makes up Bosnia since the Balkans wars. The two entities are linked with weak central institutions and each has its own parliament, government, police and army.

WAR.WIRE