THE HAGUE (AFP) -- The trial of seven top Bosnian Serb military officials on charges related to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslims, eleven years ago this week, was to open here Friday.

The Srebrenica case is the largest joint trial ever seen at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The office of the prosecution has announced that chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte would make a short statement at the start of the trial but it is not sure that the judges will allow that.

The rest of the first trial day will be devoted to procedural matters.

The prosecution opening statements are planned for August 21 after the UN court's summer break. ------Srebrenica massacre

The July 11, 1995 Srebrenica massacre is the only episode in the 1992-95 Bosnian war the ICTY ruled was a genocide.

To date six people have been convicted over the atrocities in Srebrenica.

Two of those have been convicted of genocide charges.

The two men considered to be ultimately responsible for the massacre: Former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic who face genocide charges over the killings, are still at large.

Five of the seven men going on trial Friday also face genocide charges as well as charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They are Ljubisa Beara, the chief of security of the main staff of the Bosnian Serb army, Ljubomir Borovcanin, the deputy commander of the Bosnian Serb special MUP police, Vinko Pandurevic, the commander of the Zvornik brigade that led the attack on Srebrenica, Drago Nikolic, the chief of security of the Zvornik brigade, and Vujadin Popovic, an officer allegedly responsible for managing the military police.

The two other suspects, Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero, are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The prosecution says the two men, both officers attached to the main staff of the Bosnian Serb Army, are responsible for blocking aid and supplies to Srebrenica.

From 1993 -- when Srebrenica was put under UN protection -- the enclave was flooded by thousands of Muslim refugees driven out of their homes by a Bosnian Serb offensive.

The town was cut off from the outside world by Serb troops, and food and medical supplies were scarce.

When the Bosnian Serbs finally overran the town on July 11, 1995, the lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers protecting the enclave did not stop the onslaught.

In the days that followed the takeover the Bosnian Serb troops separated the men from the women and children and summarily executed them at several locations around Srebrenica.

The victims' bodies were initially buried in a dozen mass graves, but the Bosnian Serbs moved them later to other locations to cover up the massacre. So far forensic experts have found around 60 mass graves around Srebrenica.