(28 Jan 1996) Serbo-Croat/English
Thousands of people in the Bosnian enclave of Gorazde took to the streets Sunday to pay their respects to outgoing Bosnian prime minister, Haris Silajdzic.
In his first visit to the enclave since the outbreak of war in 1992, Silajdzic praised residents who defied almost ceaseless Serb bombardment for almost four years.
The River Drna was the lifeline that kept Gorazde going as a ceaseless Serb bombardment cut the town off from the rest of the world for most of the war.
Despite the ceaseless pounding, the will of the people rarely wavered as they came up with ingenious methods of survival to defy their Serb tormentors.
Life is still far from normal ... but things are improving.
To pay homage to the heroes of Goradze, outgoing Bosnian prime minister Haris Silajdzic, paid his first visit to the town since the outbreak of war in 1992.
Silajdzic strolled through the main street often stopping on the way to greet the old and young alike.
Gorazde still bears many scars after four years of battle. All the houses near the front line have been shelled.
This one time industrial centre suffered intense bombardment and many of it's streets lie in ruin.
But through it all the people of Goradze kept going --- going to extraordinary lengths to survive.
When Goradze lost electricity they used the River Drna to power their town.
SOUNDBITE:" I've had the opportunity and the honour today to shake hands with hundreds of heroes today. Some of them are six years old and some of them are sixty-six years old, so this is a town of heroes - this is town hero. These people have shown unbelievable courage - a will to live - and that is why Gorazde exists today. this is a victory for Humanity and, I hope a victory for Bosnia-Hercegovina as a whole".
SUPER CAPTION: Haris Silajdzic
After stopping to talk to people from the town, Silajdzic met local leaders for talks on the current situation in the city.
The city has few amenities to speak of - virtually everything having been destroyed in almost four years of fighting.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
22 авг 2024
