Nenad Bogdanovic; was mayor of Belgrade

BELGRADE - Mayor Nenad Bogdanovic of Belgrade, who launched the Serbian capital's postwar recovery, died yesterday at age 54.

Mr. Bogdanovic died of cancer, state-run Serbian television said.

A senior official in the pro-Western Democratic Party, he played an important role in Belgrade politics after the 2000 ouster of Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Yugoslavia.

Mr. Bogdanovic was elected mayor in 2004, defeating a candidate from the nationalist Radical Party.

The prodemocracy Belgrade leadership helped restore some of the city's metropolitan spirit, which had diminished under the international sanctions that targeted Serbia during the Milosevic era.

Mr. Bogdanovic leaves his wife and two children.