Bosnian Islamic fighter denies war crimes charges
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - September 23, 2004, Thursday

Sarajevo - A Bosnian Moslem of Iraqi origin pleaded not guilty Thursday before the State Court in Sarajevo to war crimes charges.

Abduladhim Maktouf has been accused of war crimes against civilians, including the detention of five Bosnian non-Moslems in October 1993 in central Bosnia by Islamic warriors known as mujahadeens.

The five civilians, according to the indictment, were taken to a mujahadeen camp, where they were beaten and tortured and one was beheaded.

The Maktouf case is the first related to war crimes committed by mujahadeens.

Maktouf was one of hundreds of volunteers from Islamic countries who arrived in Bosnia during the countrys 1992-1995 war to help Bosnian Moslems fight against another two of Bosnias ethnic groups - Croats and Serbs.

After being granted Bosnian citizenship, Maktouf stayed in the country after the war, starting a private company in the central Bosnian town of Travnik.

Bosnian authorities detained him in June this year under suspicion of the illegal import of goods for his company.

The trial against him before the Bosnian State Court has been approved by The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). dpa zl pmc

SECTION: Politics
September 23, 2004, Thursday - 17:22:52 Central European Time

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