Authorities in the Bosnian Serb Republic have started dismantling an Orthodox church which was built on the foundations of a mosque levelled by the Bosnian Serb army during the 1992-95 war.

After many years of negotiations, the Orthodox and Islamic communities have reached an agreement to move the church to a different location. Last month, a local magistrate ordered the Bosnian Serb authorities in Banja Luka to pay 42 million USD in damages to its Islamic community for the wartime destruction of 16 local mosques.

Reuters | March 25, 2009

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