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Bosnian Infrastructure Improved With Yugo Phone Links, Railroad
BELGRADE, July 9 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav telecommunications agency (PTT) is expected to restore telephone links between Sarajevo and Serbia, the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA reported on Tuesday. SRNA quoted "sources close to the PTT managers in Serbia" as saying a few phone lines would be restored "in the next few days." PTT officials were unavailable to confirm the report.
"For the moment, there is no chance of being able to phone from (the rump) Yugoslavia to just any part of the Muslim-Croat Federation," SRNA quoted the sources as saying. "In the first phase only several telephone numbers in Sarajevo will be put into operation." Bosnian Serb forces severed telecommunications links with Sarajevo during their siege which lasted the duration of the 43-month-long war. Land-lines to Sarajevo have gradually been restored allowing its residents to communicate with much of the world, except for Bosnian Serb territory and the rump Yugoslavia which consists of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro.
Phone services rapidly improved after the warring parties signed the Dayton peace accord to end the conflict. Diplomats say restoration of phone links with Yugoslavia would be a small step towards reconciliation between Serbs, Muslims and Croats.
Meantime, NATO will finance a $4.3 million reconstruction of Bosnia’s east-west rail route, the alliance-led peace force said Tuesday. The alliance hopes the new rail line will help Bosnians move more freely around their country. NATO also hopes to use the rebuilt railroad to transport heavy equipment out of Bosnia when the peace force’s mandate expires at the end of December, force spokesman Lt. Col. Max Marriner said. Most of country’s railways were destroyed during the 3½-year Bosnian war.
The new route will reconnect Bosnia with European rail links, Lt. Col. Max Marriner said, and will traverse lands held both by the Serbs and the Muslim-Croat federation. The reconstruction will link Bosanski Novi, on Bosnia’s western border, with Zvornik, on its eastern border. The World Bank is already financing the reconstruction of a north-south rail link from Ploce on Croatia’s southern coast to Doboj in Bosnia’s north, where it meets the east-west route. |
Berserkistan, July 1 · Without Transmitters or Training, Independent TV Launched in Bosnia
RECONSTRUCTION
Bosnian/Balkan Reconstruction U.S. Department of Commerce
Bosnian Reconstruction at a Glance World Bank
Bosnian Reconstruction Guide Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina Triennale di Milano XIX Esposizione Internazionale
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