Sarajevo - A symbol of Bosnian resistance in the second World War and 10 years of Balkan conflict, the newspaper Oslobodjenje was forced finally to shut down yesterday.
"The management decided that there are no more conditions for Oslobodjenje to be published," said the editor-in-chief Mirko Sagolj.
Founded by communist partisans in the second World War, the newspaper's high-rise offices were reduced to a massive heap of rubble during Bosnia's 43-month civil war in 1992-95. Journalists worked on by candlelight in the basement to produce a single sheet of newsprint during the siege of Sarajevo by Serb separatists occupying hills overlooking the capital. Two members of the editorial staff died in the conflict. But it was industrial action by disgruntled journalists that finally silenced the presses.
Mr Sagolj resigned on Saturday along with the general manager and his deputy after negotiations with the strikers collapsed. A handful of employees had managed to continue publishing the paper for two days, but finally Mr Sagolj, an Oslobodjenje journalist for 35 years, said: "I'm very sad, we did all we could to continue."