Banja Luka, (Bosnia-Herzegovina), May 29: Checking the ground where Pope John Paul II is to address pilgrims during his visit in less than a month, mine clearers found six aerial bombs and a mortar grenade left over from World War II, officials in Banja Luka yesterday said.
The pontiff will visit Banja Luka on June 22 for one day to beatify Ivan Merz, a Bosnian Croat, who took a vow of celibacy and devoted his life to the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1900s.
His visit is also expected to help with the return of predominantly Roman Catholic Bosnian Croat refugees to the Serb-run half of Bosnia, where the large majority of people are orthodox Serbs.
Before mounting a giant stage in front of the Petricevac monastery near Banja Luka, organisers decided to check the ground for possible unexploded ordnance.
They found five aerial bombs Tuesday and were continuing their search yesterday.



"We are digging out the sixth bomb and will destroy all of them in a different location, while the mortar grenade was destroyed on the spot," Trivo Drca, a civil defense official in charge of the operation, told reporters.



He said his men were working together with experts of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia which is also involved in the preparation process as well as the security for the papal visit.



DRCA said the operation will continue until "We are sure that all danger is eliminated."


Bureau Report