BRIDGE CONNECTING SLAVONSKI BROD, BOSANSKI BROD TO BE REOPENED

SLAVONKSI BROD, Sept 16 (Hina) - Representatives of civil authorities of the towns of Slavonski Brod (Croatia) and Serb- held Bosanski Brod (northern Bosnia-Herzegovina) held a meeting in Slavonski Brod on Tuesday for the first time since the establishment of independent Croatia. The meeting was initiated by the NATO-led Stabilization Force headquarters in Sarajevo, on the occasion of an imminent opening of a bridge connecting the two towns across the Sava river. Slavonski Brod Mayor Mato Vukelic said after the meeting that Croatian and Serb representatives agreed the bridge could be opened for civil transport - passers-by, bicycle riders and cars, including buses - but not trucks, despite the fact that it is the shortest route by which Hungary and north European countries can reach the Adriatic Sea. Croatian and Serb representative also agreed that civil transport across the bridge should be temporary, since there is a project for the construction of a new bridge across the Sava in eastern Slavonski Brod. The bridge to be reopened was destroyed in the night of 7 October 1992. About a year ago, SFOR's Hungarian engineering units made it suitable for traffic of vehicles of SFOR, the UN and international charity associations. (hina) ha 162206 MET sep 97