Former Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic Dies at 78

19/10/2003| IslamWeb

Alija Izetbegovic, who led Bosnia's Muslims during the 1992-95 war for independence then became one of the multiethnic republic's first postwar presidents, died Sunday, a hospital official said. He was 78. Izetbegovic died of complications that developed after he was hospitalized for injuries sustained from a fall in his home, said Dr. Ismet Gavrankapetanovic, the head of Sarajevo's Kosevo clinic. "The former president of Bosnian-Herzegovina died in the Kosevo hospital today," Gavrankapetanovic was quoted as saying by state radio. Izetbegovic's condition had become critical on Friday when doctors could not stop bleeding in his left lung, the hospital reported. The former president had been admitted to Sarajevo's main hospital weeks ago after breaking four ribs and injuring his shoulder during a fall at his home. Izetbegovic quit politics in 2000 due to poor health and deteriorating relations with the West. He had long suffered from heart disease and had had treatment in hospitals in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia. He was popular among fellow Muslims for resisting Serb attempts to carve up Bosnia after it broke away from the former Yugoslav federation in 1992, as well as by Islamic leaders worldwide. **PHOTO CAPTION*** File photo from March 1996 of then Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic with the Bosnian flag from the 1992-1995 Bosnian war in the background. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic)