Bosnian Serb nationalist mob attacks state delegation

Hundreds of Serbs have blocked a ground-breaking ceremony for the reconstruction of a mosque in the Bosnian Serb town of Trebinje.

They threw rocks and bottles at a state delegation and injured an international official.

Daniel Ruiz, the head of the Trebinje office of Bosnia's top international official, Wolfgang Petritsch, was injured when protesters pinned him against a wall and kicked and punched him. Mr Ruiz was taken to a local clinic for treatment.

Local radio in nearby Mostar reported several other people injured in the melee.

A delegation comprising the head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia, the Muslim member of the joint presidency, representatives of the international community and ambassadors of several Islamic countries were to lay the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the Osman-Pasha mosque. It was one of 10 city mosques destroyed during the war.

Bosnian Serb politicians were also expected to attend but did not show up.

But when the delegation arrived, it found several hundreds of Bosnian Serbs at the site, singing nationalist songs, waving black flags and chanting "kill the Turks", referring to Bosnia's Muslims, and "Let's Slaughter Alija", the former Bosnian Muslim president Alija Izetbegovic.

The delegation moved to the local Islamic Community office downtown for safety reasons, but the mob broke through a police cordon and started throwing stones and bottles at the visitors.

Some in the delegation made it to their cars and rushed off, among them the Bosnian Muslim member of the presidency, Beriz Belkic. Others hid in the Islamic Community office, where they were stuck for a while surrounded by the demonstrators.

The Bosnian Serb regional government expressed regret for the violence.