THE Pope flew out of Sarajevo last night after a two day visit which saw security in the Bosnian capital at its tightest since the civil war ended in 1995. Thousands of police were on duty throughout his visit and went on high alert after an apparent assassination plot was uncovered on Saturday.
Reconciliation and forgiveness were the pontiff's key messages to the Bosnians. "It cannot be forgotten that Sarajevo has become the symbol of the suffering of the whole of Europe," he said at Mass yesterday morning. "The hope of all people of goodwill is that what Sarajevo symbolises will remain confined to the 20th century, and that its tragedies will not be repeated in the millennium about to begin."
The Pope went ahead with his visit despite the discovery of land mines, plastic explosives and detonators on his motorcade route into the city. Investigations are now under way. Bosnian police say they may have been planted on Friday night. Their discovery came after a series of attacks over the last two months on religious buildings in the Muslim and Croat part of the country.
"Let us forgive and let us ask for forgiveness," the pontiff advised.
The Mass was held in the city's main football stadium. Thousands greeted him and waved their yellow and white Vatican flags as he eased his way into the venue on his famous white mobile. Despite snowy weather the Pope celebrated a Mass that lasted for almost three hours. Freezing pilgrims were not deterred.
Some 35,000 people braved wind and snow to attend the Mass. Five hundred buses ferried pilgrims from across Bosnia and neighbouring Croatia to see, the first visit by a Pope to Sarajevo. They travelled through Muslim controlled territory without incident.
Local and international dignitaries also attended. The chief peace envoy for Bosnia, Mr Carl Bildt, said the visit was significant. "He uses words that are not very common here. He talks about forgiveness, about reconciliation and about living together. And especially the word forgiveness is one of the most seldom used words in this country."
Muslim leaders also had warm words for the Pope. The senior Bosnian politician, Mr Ejup Ganic, said the papal calls for reconciliation were achievable. Earlier yesterday morning the Pope met all three members of Bosnia's three man presidency.
The Serb member, Mr Momcilo Krajisnik, had declined, on security grounds, to greet the pontiff at the city's airport on Saturday.
In his closing speech at the heavily guarded airport, the Pope expressed solidarity with Bosnians who were so often in his prayers during the 1992-95 conflict.
Mourning Sarajevo's plight during the brutal wartime siege, the Pope questioned whether Europe had done enough to try to end the Yugoslav conflict.