BANJA LUKA, Bosnia - Bosnian Serb police clashed with nationalist rioters on Monday, using tear gas and water cannon to beat back mobs trying to disrupt a ceremony to mark the rebuilding of a medieval mosque.
Hundreds of Bosnian Serbs attacked police with stones and bottles, injuring several officers, eyewitnesses said. The demonstrators shouted anti-Muslim slogans and sang nationalist songs.
It was the second time efforts to mark formally the re-establishment of Muslim religious life in the part of Bosnia now controlled by the Orthodox Christian Serbs have been marred by violence.
Riots a month ago killed a Muslim man and forced the postponement of the cornerstone ceremony for rebuilding the 16th century Ferhadija mosque, which was destroyed by Serb extremists in 1993 during campaigns to drive out local Muslims.
The rescheduled mosque ceremony in the northwestern town of Banja Luka had gone ahead successfully on Monday, inside a tight security cordon. None of the guests appeared to be affected by the ensuing violence.
06:34 06-18-01
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