Sawt Falasteen - Pilgrim walks across Bosnia to help heal the lasting wounds of war

"I forgive everyone, and I pray for forgiveness," he said.

Jelinic, 32, is on a pilgrimage across Bosnia carrying an eight-kilogram (nearly 18-pound) cross and a Bosnian flag strapped to his backpack.

On the way he is visiting towns, villages and war memorials, paying tribute to victims from all three communities that make up the country -- Bosnian Muslims, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats.

With Bosnia currently gripped by a political crisis and while Bosnian Serb leaders are stoking secessionist sentiment, Jelinic, a Catholic, is causing a stir.

Residents emerge from their homes to invite him to eat and offer him a place to stay while cars honk their horns, people stop on the road to hug him, take a photo or tearfully give him money "for the road".

On Tuesday, Jelinic stooped at the foot of the monument in the courtyard of the White Mosque of Stupni Do, central Bosnia, which is inscribed with the names of 38 Bosnian Muslim civilians killed in October 1993 by members of the Bosnian Croat forces.

With his eyes closed, his forehead pressed against the cross, he prayed under the gaze of Imam Ramiz Zubaca, who hesitated between watching him and taking a photo of the scene.

"Lord, you know the pain of this people, you know their suffering," said Jelinic.

"I pray that war never comes again to Bosnia-Herzegovina. I pray that you grant us peace, you who are its king."

- 1,000 kilometres -

The imam and a few villagers said they were honoured by Jelinic's visit and invited him into the mosque.

The conversation around a table adorned with a bouquet of red roses was warm and friendly.

The hosts were fasting for Ramadan but one man brought their visitor cakes, chocolate-covered dates and cherry juice.

"It means a lot to us," said Zubaca, promising that Bosnia's three communities "are ready" for true reconciliation.

"But the problem," he added, "is politics, which, unfortunately, is hindering reconciliation.

"Politics creates artificial problems, brings doubt, insecurity. What Josip is doing is what we need."

Stupni Do is one of the dozens of stages of Jelinic's 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) "Way of the Cross" that he began on February 26 at the Shrine of Our Lady in the town of Medjugorje.

His "walk for the reconciliation of the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina" is scheduled to end on April 18 -- two days before Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian calendar.

"I've been walking for 20 days and I've met people from all three communities," said Jelinic during a stop between Stupni Do and the next village, Borovica, where 18 Croatian civilians and soldiers were killed in November 1993 by Bosnian Muslim forces.

"They're all good people who have opened their hearts to me. The overwhelming majority of people want peace."

- 'This is Bosnia!' -

The intercommunal conflict from 1992 to 1995 left nearly 100,000 dead in Bosnia.

Jelinic, a physiotherapist from Ljubuski and a recent Catholic evangelist, was born during the war and has no memories of it.

But he feels the pain wherever he goes.

"There are surely people today who are still deeply hurt... I hope these people forgive and I hope peace returns to their hearts. Resentment is a poison that ravages human beings," he told AFP.

"We must not forget the victims, and we will never forget them. We must always remember them. But for us, for the peace in our hearts, I call for forgiveness."

Ismet Abdulahovic, a 68-year-old Bosnian Muslim, stopped on the road in Vares to greet Jelinic.

"This is exceptional, rare, what an honourable young man! We need this, and no tension between people," he said

A little further on, in the village of Pogar, Jelinic's pilgrimage was forced to a halt.

Andjelka Petrovic, 52, and her husband, both Croats, refused to let him pass.

"He carries messages of love and peace. It's refreshing. He has united everyone, all of Bosnia and Herzegovina," explained Andjelka, 52, who said she was "moved and honoured".

She and her husband set up a table in front of their house and served food and drink.

"This is Bosnia!" smiled Jelenic between bites, as the clouds gave way to a perfectly blue sky.

R.Shaban--SF-PST