A Bosnian Serb leader has described the Srebrenica massacre, where over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serb troops in 1995, "a fabricated myth."

Milorad Dodik, who heads Bosnia's multi-ethnic joint presidency, told a conference discussing war crimes during Bosnia's 1992-95 war that the massacre was "something that does not exist."

He said Friday "Bosniaks did not have a myth so they decided to construct one around Srebrenica."

Some 8,000 Muslims were killed and their bodies were dumped in numerous mass graves in a matter of days after the Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern town of Srebrenica during the war.

The massacre was described as genocide by two international courts and was one of the bloodiest episodes in Europe since World War II.