SERB TERRORISTS DESTROY RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

SERB TERRORISTS DESTROY RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: TERRORIST MOVEMENT 'GAVRILO PRINCIP' BLAMED

SARAJEVO / BANJA LUKA -- Unknown assailants on 18 September used explosives to partially destroy a newly rebuilt mosque in the village of Kljuc, in Republika Srpska's eastern Herzegovina region, about 70 miles southeast of the capital, Sarajevo. The mosque, one of 618 destroyed or damaged by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-1995 war, was rebuilt only three months ago and officially reopened in June of this year. The mosque was originally built in 1560. Explosives were used to topple the mosque's minaret. An official police investigation has so far turned up no suspects.

The international community and officials from across Bosnia have condemned the attack as an attempt to thwart the process of refugee returns to Republika Srpska and to undermine the country's stability by rocking the already unsteady boat of religious tolerance.

Alija Behman, prime minister of the federation entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, called the explosion an act of terrorism. "This latest act of terrorism was an attempt to scare refugees off from returning to Republika Srpska. This, as well as earlier attacks on religious objects, carries special weight because religious tolerance is very sensitive."

Representatives from the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBIH) said in a 19 September press release that "behind this attack is the Chetnik movement called Gavrilo Princip, and this is not the first time they have used terrorism on Bosniak and Croat returnees to Republika Srpska." Gavrilo Princip was the Bosnian Serb terrorist who in 1914 assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that set off World War I.

The elderly Tahir Custovic, the first refugee to return to Kljuc in May 2000, told the daily Dnevni Avaz that he arrived at the mosque immediately after the explosion. "The morning after, police officers from Republika Srpska came to the mosque. They, together with journalists from Republika Srpska, were laughing, telling me not to be worried because the entire mosque isn't destroyed." Custovic was one of the initiators and organizers of the mosque's reconstruction after it was destroyed during the war. In a press release, Dusan Antelj, Republika Srpska's religion minister, said that the incident would not disturb the process of rebuilding religious objects of all faiths.

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) on 20 September condemned the attack on the Kljuc mosque. "The UNMIBH condemns in the strongest terms the willful destruction of the newly reconstructed mosque in Kljuc. The inauguration of this mosque on 8 June 2002 had been a significant event in relation to the return process, as this mosque was the first one to be reconstructed and inaugurated in Eastern Herzegovina," read the mission's statement. The UNMIBH urged police to bring the perpetrators to quick justice and promised to closely monitor the investigation. The mission said it is necessary to send a strong signal that any obstruction of the refugee return process will not be tolerated.

The Office of the High Representative in Bosnia (OHR) likewise condemned the attacks. "This incident is an act of desperation by people who want to take Bosnia and Herzegovina back to the past. Bosnia and Herzegovina will not go back to the past. But the only way to move forward is to vote for the future, and for reform, at the elections," the OHR said in a press release. Bosnian general elections will be held on 5 October.

Gacko municipality chief Milan Radmilovic also condemned the attack, calling on police to find out who is responsible for the incident and to punish them severely. "I condemn this act that has attempted to disturb the stable political atmosphere in this municipality in the run-up to elections," he told the Banja Luka daily Nezavisne Novine. Republika Srpska Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic echoed Radmilovic's statement, saying that Gacko municipality will provide financial assistance to rebuild the mosque once again. So far, Republika Srpska police have called on citizens who have any information about the attacks to inform them.

"This is a scare tactic and a call for similar acts of violence that are part of the pre-election campaign of parties that conducted genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia," Nezavisne Novine reported, citing a statement by the Mostar Islamic community.