MOSTAR, Aug 31 (Hina) - Bosnian Croat war veterans' associations on Friday organised a rally in Stolac, near the southern town of Mostar, protesting against the reconstruction of a local mosque and demanding the cancellation of
reconstruction works, which have started recently. Several hundred protesters dispersed peacefully after an hour-long protest, which ended without incidents. During the rally, local Muslims were clearing the area around the plot where Careva (the Emperor's) mosque, destroyed during the 1993 Croat-Muslim conflict, is to be rebuilt. The Herzegovina-Neretva canton police said the protest had been announced previously. Mostar-Duvno bishop Ratko Peric said recently that "according to historical data and tradition, handed down mostly by Muslims who studied Stolac, Careva mosque was built on the foundations of a Christian church and graveyard." Peric says that the Muslim faithful have the right t
MOSTAR, Aug 31 (Hina) - Bosnian Croat war veterans' associations on
Friday organised a rally in Stolac, near the southern town of
Mostar, protesting against the reconstruction of a local mosque and
demanding the cancellation of reconstruction works, which have
started recently.
Several hundred protesters dispersed peacefully after an hour-long
protest, which ended without incidents. During the rally, local
Muslims were clearing the area around the plot where Careva (the
Emperor's) mosque, destroyed during the 1993 Croat-Muslim
conflict, is to be rebuilt.
The Herzegovina-Neretva canton police said the protest had been
announced previously.
Mostar-Duvno bishop Ratko Peric said recently that "according to
historical data and tradition, handed down mostly by Muslims who
studied Stolac, Careva mosque was built on the foundations of a
Christian church and graveyard."
Peric says that the Muslim faithful have the right to build a mosque
in Stolac, and even reconstruct Careva mosque, however, "if they
want to rebuild that place of worship forcibly and intentionally on
the foundations of a former Christian church and graveyard, they
are working against the dignity of their own faith and against the
faith of others."
Peric therefore suggests that in order to "avoid rifts and discord
and to arrive at the full historical and religious truth, one should
first study the archives in Istanbul and Rome and carry out
excavations in Stolac."
(hina) rml