SARAJEVO - A mosque illegally constructed on Serb property during the 1992-95 war is to be torn down after the owner refused a compensation offer, an official of the Bosnian Islamic community said Thursday.
"The mosque in the southern village of Bradina is going to be torn down in the next two months," Muharem Omerdic told AFP.
Omerdic said that the Islamic community had offered the Serb owner compensation since only 30 percent of the mosque is built on his land.
After he refused, the community decided two years ago to tear down the mosque, Omerdic said.
The mosque was built during 1993 and 1994 by the Bosnian Muslim army whose barracks had been located in the village, that had before the war a Serb majority.
"Now that the barracks are removed, there is no one to go to the mosque," Omerdic said.
Three ethnic groups in Bosnia -- Croats who are Roman Catholics, Muslims and Serbs who are Orthodox Christians -- fought a war using a religious symbol in their armies.
The war in Bosnia ended in 1995 leaving the country divided between the two entities -- Serbs' republika Srpska and the Croat-Muslim federation.
03/03/2005 14:33 GMT