960407

Japan raises

aid for Bosnia

restoration

TOKYO: The Japanese government has decided to provide about 180 million dollars in aid this year to support the restoration of war-devastated Bosnia, the Yomiuri Shimbun said on Sunday.

The government decided to boost the financial aid from the originally planned 75 million dollars to bring it closer to the 200 million dollars pledged by the United States, the major daily quoted unidentified government sources as saying.

The formal announcement of Japan's aid, which will cover about 1 0 percent of the total restoration cost estimated for this year, will come at an international conference on support for Bosnia scheduled for April 12-13 in Brussels, it said.-AFP