BOSNIA RELIGIOUS HEADS CALL FOR PRESERVING COEXISTENCE, TOLERANCE

SARAJEVO, Dec 28 (Hina) - The leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina's four largest religious communities on Saturday jointly condemned attacks on returnees to pre-war homes and appealed for the preservation of the tradition of coexistence in the country. #L# The country's Inter-religious Council today held a session condemning the recent murder of three members of the Bosnian Croat Andjelic family and bombing attacks on Muslim returnees in the north-eastern Prijedor area. "We wish it to be known that a crime in the name of faith is a crime against faith," read a joint statement by Bosnia's religious heads. Stating that religious tolerance and coexistence in Bosnia have no alternative, they called on state authorities to take resolute action to stop those undermining those values. They also called on legislative authorities to expedite the passing of a law on religious freedoms which they maintain will help bring about more mutual respect. Bosnia's Inter-religious Council is comprised of the Catholic head, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, the Muslim head, Reis-ul-Ulema Mustafa Ceric, the president of the Jewish Community, Jakob Finci, and the Serb Orthodox leader, Metropolitan Nikolai. (hina) ha