Sarajevo/Mostar - Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday in Sarajevo held a special meeting after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) threatened to erase the Old Bridge in Mostar from its world heritage list. More than six months ago UNESCO warned Bosnia's authorities they should stop building of the Ruza (Rose) Hotel near the UNESCO's flagged bridge and the old centre of the southern Bosnia- Herzegovina's city of Mostar.
The hotel near the bridge in the eastern side of the city was destroyed during the country's 1992-1995 war.
The reconstruction of the hotel was not a problem for UNESCO, but concern was over the decision of the city's authorities to build additional floors that would visually damage the image of the Old Bridge.
UNESCO therefore set the beginning of February this year as the deadline for Bosnia's authorities to offer a solution, threatening to start the procedure of dropping off the Old Bridge from the world heritage list. The bridge was added to the list in 2005.
"We have decided that Bosnia-Herzegovina will fully comply with the requests of UNESCO and will fulfil those requests so that the Old Bridge remains on the world heritage list," the Presidency said in a statement after the meeting.
"I am happy that the state decided to stand behind this problem ... and agreed to fulfil all UNESCO's requests," head of the State Commission for cooperation with UNESCO Slobodan Soja said after the meeting.
He also said the officials, including the Mostar city authorities, also agreed to stop rebuilding the Ruza hotel and dismantle the disputed fourth floor.
In the meantime the local police in Mostar reported that unknown perpetrators stole from the bridge the marble plaque installed by UNESCO in December 2005 to mark the bridge's inclusion as a world heritage site.
The Old Bridge in Mostar was built in 1566 by a Turkish architect during the Ottoman Empire rule in Bosnia-Herzegovina, being a rare sample of architectural and artistic beauty for more than four centuries.
The bridge was destroyed by shells on November 9, 1993, during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but was completely rebuild and reopened in 2004.
