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Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

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International

Bosnians celebrate as bridge reopens

SYMBOL OF HOPE: The newly-built Mostar Old Bridge in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar, 100 km south of Sarajevo, on Friday. — AP

MOSTAR (BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA), JULY 23. For centuries, Mostar's stone bridge was an emblem of ethnic diversity.

Then, when shelling destroyed it in 1993, the ancient span came to symbolise the senseless brutality of Bosnia's war. On Friday, as foreign dignitaries gathered to reopen the bridge over the Neretva River, many Bosnians hoped it also would help reunite Muslims and Croats in this picturesque southern town.

The bridge, built under the Turkish Ottoman empire, was destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces. The elegant white-marble ``Stari Most,'' or Old Bridge, has been a beloved landmark since its completion in 1566. ``This is a bridge which has a soul of its own,'' said Sulejman Kupusovic, in charge of Friday's reopening ceremony.

Long an emblem of a crossroads between East and West, Islam and Christianity, it suddenly became a symbol of the devastating 1992-95 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.

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