Rivals in Bosnian war show divisions over U.S. race

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Residents of Sarajevo expressed their support Saturday for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming U.S. presidential election based in part on the role her husband’s administration had in ending Bosnia’s devastating war during the 1990s.

Several hundred people turned out for the “Sarajevo Votes for Clinton” event organized by activists through social networks.

Participants said supporting Clinton means supporting the values of a civilized society and showing resistance to hatred and segregation.

When Bill Clinton was president, his administration was credited with helping end the 1992-95 war in Bosnia which took more than 100,000 lives and included a four-year siege of Sarajevo.

U.S.-led NATO air strikes against the Serb artillery pounding the capital and a peace agreement brokered by American negotiators finally ended the war.

At Saturday’s rally, Sarajevans signed a joint message and thank-you card addressed to Hillary Clinton.

“We ... are with you, respected Madam Secretary, as you were with us so many times. Together we are strong and will win, as we always do,” the message read.

Organizer Mirza Hulusic said he was motivated to demonstrate that Clinton is on the right side of history and fighting in her campaign against the kind of regressive forces he faced as a child during the Bosnian war.

In the Bosnian Serb region of Bosnia, the Clintons are very unpopular and Donald Trump is favored, in part because he is seen as friendly to Serb ally Vladimir Putin. A shoe factory in Banja Luka, the capital of the Bosnian Serb part of the country, sent shoes to Melania Trump, hoping she would wear them in the White House.