| As hundreds of people
watched from the river-bank, a crane slowly
lowered the final stone slab into
place, bringing together the two sides of the single arched bridge
- an emotional moment for many of those present.
When the 16th century construction was destroyed by Bosnian Croat
forces in November 1993, it seemed to symbolise
the complete disintegration in
relations between Bosnia's Muslims, Croats and Serbs and the country's
descent into all-out war. Mostar
itself saw bitter fighting between Muslim and Croat.
Since the war the rebuilding of the 'Stari Most' or 'Old Bridge',
has been seen as a priority, helping
to demonstrate how much the country
has moved on from those dark days. The bridge's reconstruction
and that of surrounding buildings is costing around twenty million
dollars, money provided by a World Bank loan
and donations from countries such as Turkey, the Netherlands and
Croatia. Work will not be complete until the New Year and it will
be spring 2004 before it is finally reopened to the public.
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crane: large machine that moves heavy
things by lifting them into the air
stone slab: a thick, flat piece
of stone
symbolize: be thought of as a symbol, represent
disintegration: falling apart,
breaking into many small pieces
all-out war: total, complete war
priority: one of the most important things to do
demonstrate: show (quite a formal
word)
reconstruction: building up again
loan: amount of money that is borrowed
from someone
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