bosnia marks 20 years of princess diana’s visit
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

before she died in a car crash

Bosnia marks 20 years of Princess Diana’s visit

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleBosnia marks 20 years of Princess Diana’s visit

Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, poses with Muhamed Suljkanovic
Bosnia-Herzegovina - Muslimchronicle

Bosnia is marking the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's visit, her last overseas tour before she died in a car crash in Paris.

Her crusade against land mines led to her three-day visit to Bosnia from Aug. 9, 1997, during which she met victims who sustained injuries from devices planted during the country's savage civil war in the 1990s.

Three weeks after her visit, which coincided with news of her romance with millionaire Dodi al Fayed, the pair died in a car crash in Paris when their driver lost control of his car as they were pursued by photographers.

British Ambassador Edward Ferguson said Thursday during a memorial conference in Sarajevo that Diana would be saddened by the fact that mines still kill people in Bosnia.

"What I think 20 years ago Princess Diana did is that she shone a light on this problem with mines, and she really brought it into public attention in an enormous way, in a way, perhaps, that only she could have done," Ferguson said.

"By walking through a mine field in Angola, by visiting Bosnia-Hercegovina just a few days before she sadly died. She really got the public attention and therefore political attention as well."

He said undetected land mines still represent a danger in Bosnia despite some recent progress. A half-million people, or about 15 percent of the population, live with this fear of mines, Ferguson added.

The princess' trip to Bosnia was organized by The Land Mines Survivors' Network, a group founded in 1995 by two American victims of land mines, Ken Rutherford and Jerry White.

As part of the visit, Diana made a surprise visit to the Suljkanovic family in their modest home in the small village of Dobrnja near Tuzla.

Several weeks earlier, the father of the family, Muhamed Suljkanovic, had lost both his feet after stepping on a land mine in the forest outside his house, a remnant of Bosnia's three-year war.

Diana took him some cake on Aug. 9, his birthday, his wife Suada remembered.

"Diana and her friend Ken (Rutherford), the American, they brought the birthday cake, and they sang happy birthday to him, and we were in shock. How did they know?"

But the Suljkanovic family's joy turned to shock and disbelief when, just a few weeks after Diana's visit, they heard on the radio that the princess had died.

"What? I said to myself. How? Where? I could not believe it. Immediately after that I named my newborn daughter Diana, after the princess. They say we have to somehow remember good people, and we remember her like that," Muhamed Suljkanovic said.

During her visit, Princess Diana promised financial support for Muhamed for a new prosthesis. Just a couple of months after she died, the family say they received a donation from the royal family, the exact amount promised by Diana.

Another land mine victim, Malic Bradaric, was only 13 in 1996 when he stepped on one while playing in his village of Klokotnica. The incident left him without most of his right leg.

When Diana came to visit, he said this week that he expected a royal in a shiny dress wearing a crown. Instead, she arrived on his doorstep wearing jeans and a white shirt.

Bradaric and his friends, who had a chance to meet Diana, said she was "a light at the end of the tunnel" for them. He now remembers the shock when he heard that the princess was killed.

"That light that we saw at the end of the tunnel just turned off," Bradaric said.

source: AFP

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

GMT 06:08 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Iranian woman skydiver looks

GMT 08:33 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

European markets diverge

GMT 08:08 2018 Monday ,22 January

centre-left backs formal coalition talks

GMT 07:24 2018 Sunday ,21 January

Mass crowds rally for anti-Trump

GMT 11:41 2018 Saturday ,20 January

New Zealand PM says she's having a baby

GMT 06:28 2018 Friday ,19 January

California couple who held 13 children captive

GMT 06:56 2018 Thursday ,18 January

Despite reforms, Saudi women still silenced

GMT 07:39 2018 Wednesday ,17 January

Danish inventor Peter Madsen charged
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

bosnia marks 20 years of princess diana’s visit bosnia marks 20 years of princess diana’s visit

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 07:32 2017 Friday ,11 August

Venezuela clamps down on opposition politicians

GMT 08:39 2017 Tuesday ,15 August

Hundreds join silent London march for fire victims

GMT 10:19 2017 Saturday ,08 April

Google adds 'fact check' to global search results

GMT 08:51 2017 Friday ,13 October

Etzebeth to lead Springboks on European tour

GMT 13:54 2017 Saturday ,25 November

Electricity Minister receives UN Resident Coordinator

GMT 12:55 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

Cowabunga Adam! Great Scott makes waves in Korea

GMT 14:50 2017 Wednesday ,01 November

Oldest, most iconic drinking fountain in Kuwait

GMT 09:24 2017 Wednesday ,06 December

Canada and China hail ties

GMT 18:35 2016 Thursday ,06 October

Sisi bestows Order of Honor Star on Sudan’s Bashir

GMT 23:26 2016 Wednesday ,29 June

Still aiming to resume Syria peace talks in July

GMT 22:13 2014 Friday ,31 October

NBB posts 42.16m Bahraini dinar net profits

GMT 09:34 2016 Tuesday ,20 December

Electoral College seals Trump White House win

GMT 09:26 2014 Wednesday ,15 October

US losing to ISIS in race against time

GMT 08:52 2011 Monday ,19 September

The Israeli Embassy and Syrian state television

GMT 10:57 2016 Tuesday ,20 September

China to unveil steel merger plans this week

GMT 16:40 2017 Monday ,06 March

FM: No refugee camps in Egypt
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle