HEADLINE: Can new bridge unite divided city of Mostar?: Bosnian officials hope so;
residents aren't so sure

Reuters, with files from The Daily Telegraph

Nedim Dervisbegovic

MOSTAR, Bosnia - The city of Mostar, like Sarajevo a symbol of the bloody end of Yugoslavia, joyfully unveiled yesterday its rebuilt 16th-century bridge, which some hope can help reconcile the city's Muslims and Croats.

Almost 11 years after Bosnian Croat artillerymen shelled it to destruction, the new "Stari Most" (Old Bridge) was officially inaugurated at a spectacular ceremony yesterday evening attended by international guests and delegations.

Fireworks lit up the sky above the elegant, single-span bridge at the end of a program that featured Beethoven's Ode to Joy and nine of the city's legendary divers jumping into the green rushing waters of Neretva with torches in their hands.

More than 2,000 people took part in the program, including traditional Bosnian folk dancers, children choirs and brass bands from both parts of the ethnically divided town, and leading Bosnian classical and popular music figures. Hundreds of Mostar citizens and tourists also watched, perched in houses and cafes around the bridge in Mostar's Old Town.

Britain's Prince Charles, presidents and prime ministers from neighbouring Balkan states, French and Italian Foreign Ministers Franco Frattini and Michel Barnier, and European Union External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten were present.

Officials of the World Bank and the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, who led the reconstruction project, also attended.

Throughout the day, the bridge was the focus of all attention in the eastern, Muslim quarter. The narrow streets in the Old Town were packed despite scorching heat and heavy security.

Rusem Srakic, a Muslim taxi driver who has returned to live in the western, Croat part of town, said he felt "as if I was being born again, just like Mostar is being born again."

UNESCO and the World Bank were helped in the $20-million project by other institutions and governments, including the Council of Europe, Croatia, Turkey and Italy.

The original bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent about 100 years after Turkey's Ottoman empire claimed the Balkans. It stood the tests of time and war until November, 1993, when it succumbed to Bosnian Croat high explosives in an attack condemned globally as an act of sheer vandalism.

In a painstaking reconstruction, Turkish engineers and other experts used white marble from the original quarry nearby and a combination of old techniques and new technology to build an exact replica.

But many think it can only be "a beautiful copy" that will not bridge the differences between Mostar's communities.

"Of course this bridge is more important than other bridges, but there are many other things that need to be changed," said Andjela, 45, a housewife who still does not want to return with her family to their house in the eastern part of the town.

Yesterday, Bosnia trumpeted the reopening of the bridge as a symbol of reconciliation among the multi-ethnic population.

Sulejman Tihic, head of the Bosnian Presidency, said, "It is a success for Bosnia. It's a victory for the citizens of Mostar. With the reconstruction of the bridge they have committed themselves to peace and reconciliation and set aside forever fighting and division."

Having united to drive the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army from the hills above the city in 1992, its 100,000 inhabitants turned on one another in 1993.

Despite all the words from the great and the good yesterday, few were willing to forgive and certainly none had forgotten the brutality of the 1993 conflict.

"Mostar's like a big village," said Richard Williams, local representative of Bosnia's international administrator, Paddy Ashdown. "Everyone knows everyone else and remembers everything they did. It was like Stalingrad. Every single structure was destroyed."

As the ceremony to re-open the bridge stretched into a party expected to last well into the night, many hoped the bridge would be a symbol of optimism, not despair.

GRAPHIC: Black & White Photo: Danilo Krstanovic, Reuters; Fireworks light up the sky as the replica of the Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia, was officially opened yesterday evening. The original bridge, which was built in the 16th century and destroyed nearly 11 years ago by Bosnian Croat artillery, connects the ethnically divided city.

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Ottawa Citizen

July 24, 2004 Saturday Final Edition
News; Pg. A8 561 words
HPost-war Bosnia mends its bridges: Bosnians hope reopening of historic span will help reunite Muslims, Croats
The Daily Telegraph; with files from The Associated Press

Harry de Quetteville

MOSTAR, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Prince Charles was among dozens of VIPs and hundreds of thousands of people across Bosnia who celebrated the reopening of the Stari Most bridge in Mostar yesterday, more than 10 years after its destruction in the civil war.

Under a blistering sun, the Charles wandered the cobbled streets of Mostar's old town, which has been rebuilt since the 1992-95 conflict, before visiting the bridge.

The graceful arc of pale stone over the Neretva River had been the centrepiece of the town since it was built by the Ottomans in 1566. While the Ottoman empire eventually crumbled, the bridge endured.

It was finally shattered by Bosnian Croat shells in 1993, separating the Croats west of the Neretva from the Bosnian Muslims on the east.

Yesterday, Bosnia trumpeted the reopening of the bridge as a symbol of reconciliation among the multiethnic population.

"It is a success for Bosnia," said Sulejman Tihic, head of the Bosnian presidency. "It's a victory for the citizens of Mostar.

"With the reconstruction of the bridge, they have committed themselves to peace and reconciliation, and set aside forever fighting and division."

Amir Pasic, chief architect of the $24-million Cdn rebuilding project, described the structure as a "perfect facsimile" of the old bridge. It incorporates many of the original stones dredged from where they lay on the riverbed.

"We had all the technical documents for the bridge, so rebuilding it was more emotional than difficult," Mr. Pasic said. "But the process is not completed, many buildings here still lie destroyed."

Former UN special envoy Elisabeth Rehn, who spent several years in Bosnia after the 1992-1995 war, returned for yesterday's ceremony.

"Already on the road from Sarajevo to Mostar, it becomes clear how much everything has developed physically," she said. "Now we have to have a mental rebuilding. The bridge can be a symbol for that."

Despite all the good words yesterday, few were willing to forgive, and certainly none had forgotten the brutality of the 1993 conflict.

"Mostar's like a big village," said Richard Williams, Mostar representative of Bosnia's international administrator, Lord Paddy Ashdown. "Everyone knows everyone else and remembers everything they did."

Having united to drive the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army from the hills above the city in 1992, its 100,000 inhabitants turned on one another in 1993.

"It was like Stalingrad," said Mr. Williams. "Every single structure was destroyed."

NATO-led troops still patrol to keep the peace, and an international administration oversees the country. The Dayton, Ohio, peace accords that ended the war carved Bosnia into a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb mini-state, underscoring how peaceful prewar coexistence has given way to postwar bitterness and mistrust.

Roman Catholic Croats now slightly outnumber Muslims in the town of 105,000. Orthodox Christian Serbs are a tiny minority in both the mostly Muslim east side and the Croat-dominated west side.

Mostar essentially remains two cities: Muslims and Croats send their children to different schools, watch their own television stations and cheer for rival soccer teams.

But as the ceremony to reopen the bridge stretched into a party lasting well into the night, many hoped the bridge would be a symbol of optimism, not despair.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Danilo Krstanovic, Reuters; Crowds gather to celebrate at the opening ceremony of the rebuilt bridge in Mostar. The city, a symbol like Sarajevo of the bloody end of Yugoslavia, unveiled its rebuilt 16th-century bridge yesterday, which some hope can help reconcile its Muslims and Croats.

Ancient span bridges cultural divides: Bridge reopened after reconstruction. Bosnians celebrate in hope historical site will help reunify a people scarred by war

AP MIRSAD BEHRAM

For centuries, Mostar's stone bridge was an icon of ethnic diversity. Then, when shelling destroyed it in 1993, the ancient span came to symbolize the senseless brutality of Bosnia's war.

Yesterday, Britain's Prince Charles and other foreign dignitaries gathered to reopen the bridge over the Neretva River, and many Bosnians hoped it would help reunite Muslims and Croats in this picturesque southern town.

"The opening of the Old Bridge opens a new page in Bosnian history," Bosnian Prime Minister Adnan Terzic told the Associated Press.

Chris Patten, the EU's external affairs commissioner, said: "It's a symbol of hope for the future, which I passionately believe will see Bosnia-Herzegovina as a full member of the family of the European Union."

Festivities began early yesterday with a performance of brass bands from Croatia and Turkey. The bridge, built under the

Turkish Ottoman empire, was destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces.

The area around the bridge was off-limits to most Mostar citizens, who watched the daylong festivities on television at home. Security was tight, with more than 2,300 police officers mobilized to seal off the heart of the city. Helicopters patrolled overhead and police divers watched the river.

The elegant white-marble "Stari Most," or Old Bridge, has been a beloved landmark since its completion in 1566.

"Even when it was destroyed and did not exist, it was present among the residents even more than ever," said Sulejman Kupusovic, who was in charge of yesterday's ceremony.

"I am sure that this bridge will do more for the unification of Mostar and Bosnia - more than declarations or politicians together - because it is, simply put, our history,"

Mostar, located southwest of Sarajevo, is named for the bridge. Legend has it that the bridge's Ottoman Empire architect, Mimar Hajrudin, fled the town before the scaffolding was removed in fear of Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Great, who allegedly threatened the designer with death if the majestic span were ever to crumble.

After surviving numerous conflicts through the ages, it tumbled into the river in 1993, when Bosnian Croats blasted its sweeping arch with tank fire. The pummelling assault scattered slabs of marble and limestone into the swirling waters below.

Long an emblem of a crossroads between East and West, Islam and Christianity, it suddenly became a symbol of the devastating war, which killed 260,000 people and drove another 1.8 million from their homes.

Today, Bosnia remains deeply scarred both physically and psychologically.

NATO-led troops still patrol to keep the peace, and an international administration oversees the country. The Dayton, Ohio, peace accords that ended the war carved Bosnia into a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb mini-state, underscoring how peaceful prewar co-existence has given way to postwar bitterness and mistrust.

Roman Catholic Croats now slightly outnumber Muslims in the town of 105,000. Orthodox Christian Serbs are a tiny minority in both the mostly Muslim east side and the Croat-dominated west side.

Mostar essentially remains two cities: Muslims and Croats send their children to different schools, watch their own television stations and cheer for rival soccer teams.

History of Mostar's Old Bridge
1557: Ottoman Empire ruler Suleiman the Great orders a magnificent bridge to be built above the Neretva River in Mostar.
1566: Ottoman architect
Mimar Hajrudin completes construction, only to flee the town before the scaffolding is removed, fearing Suleiman's death threat if the bridge falls.
1914-18: Bridge survives the First World War intact.
1941-45: Bridge survives the Second World War with only minor, superficial damage.
1993: As Bosnian Muslims and Croats clash in ethnic warfare, the Old Bridge, on territory controlled by Muslims, is constantly shelled by Croat forces.November 1993: Bridge damaged by Bosnian Croat shells.
1997: Initial work on reconstruction begins.
June 2002: Workers begin extracting scattered stone remnants from the riverbed.
August 2003: Builders hoist the final, 456th stone into the central arch.
July 23, 2004: Reconstructed bridge opens to the public.

GRAPHIC: Photo: DANILO KRSTANOVIC, REUTERS; Bosnia's Old Bridge was a celebrated icon of diversity.