Main Bosnian Muslim daily campaigns against terror expert
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - October 3, 2008 Friday

A Bosnian anti-terrorism expert has been the subject of an unprecedented attack by the country's main Muslim daily Dnevni avaz. The Sarajevo publication mounted a scathing attack against Dzevad Galijasevic on 27 September headlined "Dzevad Galijasevic's special war against Bosnia and Bosnian Muslims". Galijasevic recently became a member of the Expert Team of South Eastern Europe for Fighting Terrorism and Organized Crime which was formed in Zagreb on 19 September. The team includes terror experts from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.

Galijasevic described as traitor

Dnevni avaz says that Galijasevic, himself a Bosnian Muslim, is employed by the Bosnian Serbs to systematically spread stories about Bosnia as a breeding ground for Islamist terrorists.

"Bosnia-Hercegovina is in the system of organized international terrorism, and the future mujahidin and terrorists are being recruited there," the daily quotes Galijasevic as saying and warning that "the recruitment is done in mosques, and they are mostly recruiting young people and children of the shehids [Islamic martyrs]".

"Such Galijsevic's statements may even provoke someone into attacking him physically, although this is the last thing that we would need. People like him cannot wait for someone to attack or threaten them, or at least to give them a nasty look," the main Sarajevo daily said in conclusion.

However, the daily failed to block a series of threats against Galijasevic which swamped its website's comment section after the article was posted.

Death threats

Hundreds of Dnevni avaz readers commented on the article with a large number calling for Galijasevic's head. "He should be hanged by his testicles" and "pour petrol on him and set him on fire" are some of the recommendations for ways to deal with "the man who is a greater monster than Karadzic and Mladic" and whose "bones should be spat out by the earth" when he dies.

However a number of participants in the debate praised Galijasevic's afforts to warn against the threat poised by radical Islamists in Bosnia. "It is not Galijasevic's fault that Usamah Bin-Ladin was issued a Bosnian passport", says one of the participants in the discussion which is also joined by Domagoj Margetic, the Croatian member of the anti-terrorism expert team. Margetic defends his Bosnian colleague, often using quotes form his book on Islamist terrorism in the Balkans, but many of his comments are removed by the Dnevni avaz web moderator who failed to do so with the threats against Galijasevic.

Izetbegovic blamed for Islamist imports

It is interesting that Margetic already had an opportunity to come to Galijasevic's rescue In June 2008 death threats against Galijasevic were posted on a forum run by Sarajevo-x.com news portal and the Croatian member of the terror expert team reacted, sending an open letter of protest in which he said that the ruling Bosnian Muslim SDA party was behind the attacks on Galijasevic.

The latest attack on Galijasevic came after his and Margetic's Expert Team of South Eastern Europe for Fighting Terrorism and Organized Crime called for the publication of the Hague tribunal's indictment against the late Alija Izetbegovic, SDA founder and Muslim wartime leader. The expert team believes that the publication of the indictment would reveal his party's role in Bosnian imports of Islamist and Wahhabi warriors and ideology.

The SDA denied any involvement in threats against Galijasevic "even though Mr. Galijasevic has been presenting lies about the SDA for years," party spokesman Amir Zukic said after the June incidents.

Source: Dnevni avaz, Sarajevo, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 27 Sep 08
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