REBUILT BRIDGE BETWEEN SLAVONSKI, BOSANSKI BROD OPENED

SLAVONSKI BROD, April 5 (Hina) - The United States ambassadors to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH), William Montgomery and Thomas Miller respectively, on Wednesday opened a bridge connecting Slavonski Brod in Croatia and Bosanski Brod in BH across the Sava river. The U.S. government invested a little over US$6 million in the reconstruction of the bridge which is some 200km east of Zagreb. The bridge is the third border crossing between Croatia and BH rebuilt with U.S. government assistance, United States Agency for International Development director Edward Kadunc said at the inauguration in the middle of the bridge. Reminding of the traffic role the bridge has for both Croatia and BH, the premier of BH's Croat-Muslim Federation, Edhem Bicakcic, said the reconstruction "opens the road to Europe" and "is an opportunity for returnees to return to Posavina." The premier of BH's Serb entity, Milorad Dodik, supported "such and similar endeavours to bring (the Bosnian Serb entity) and BH closer to Europe." "May the bridge, first of all, be a bridge of return for all who could not return until now," said Bozo Kovacevic, Croatia's Minister for Environmental Protection and Zoning. The bridge connecting Slavonski Brod and Bosanski Brod was mined and suffered major damage in October 1992, when the Bosnian Serb army occupied Bosanski Brod. Unlike the old, railroad and road bridge, the new, rebuilt one, is only for road traffic and has two lanes for pedestrians. (hina) ha mm