Bosnian Wahhabi leader "constantly
accompanied" by alleged al-Qa'ida member
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - March 8, 2007 Thursday
Text of report by D. Majstorovic: "Tunisian wanted by everyone" published by
Bosnian Serb newspaper Glas Srpske on 5 March, Arabic names as published
Jusuf Barcic, the official leader of Wahhabis in Bosnia-Hercegovina, does not
cease to shock the public. Not only has he, together with his followers,
physically assaulted imams and believers in mosques throughout central Bosnia,
but he was also the reason why the Emperor's [Careva] Mosque in Sarajevo was
recently closed for the first time in its 500-year long history.
Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa effendi Ceric, head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
did not allow Barcic and his colleagues to hold a lecture in the Emperor's
Mosque about "original Islam," which is what the Wahhabis call their teaching.
Expectedly, this decision made Barcic's followers bitter and they entered into a
conflict with members of the Islamic Community.
Almost ignored in the story about Barcic's aggressive preaching of "return to
original Islam and initial values" was the news that this self-styled imam is of
late constantly accompanied by one of the most wanted "residents" of the Zenica
Prison - Karaj Kamel bin Ali [name as published], also known as one of the Abu
Hamzas, a Tunisian with a B-H passport.
This once again confirms the story about the unbreakable ties between radical
Islamists and Al-Qa'idah, the most powerful terrorist network of today.
According to intelligence sources, Karaj Kamel bin Ali is one of the most
prominent Al-Qa'idah fighters in Bosnia-Hercegovina. More precisely, Karaj Kamel
was a member of the notorious Gam'a al-Islamiyya, one of the groups that operate
under Al-Qa'idah's umbrella.
Karaj Kamel bin Ali recently talked to the ZDF, a German television station,
about his war and post-war activities. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the
B-H authorities' treatment of God's soldiers, who in the early 1990's had come
from all over the world to help "Muslim brothers in Bosnia-Hercegovina." He was
one of those soldiers, and the extent to which he had made his "Muslim brothers"
happy is best illustrated by reports and continuous warnings of intelligence
agencies and Western investigative authorities saying that Bosnia-Hercegovina is
still a safe haven for the most radical Islamists.
That Karaj Kamel bin Ali is not just an ordinary adventurer, who just happened
to come to Bosnia-Hercegovina in the early 1990's, is illustrated by serious
accusations of German and Italian authorities, which on several occasions
requested Bosnia-Hercegovina to extradite him. To recall, Italian authorities
have linked him to the "Bologna group," suspected of plotting suicide
assassinations throughout Italy.
Germany identified Karaj Kamel bin Ali as a member of the so-called "Hamburg
group," which is believed to be bearing the biggest responsibility for
organizing and carrying out the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York
and Washington. It was the "Hamburg group" that recruited the principal
hijacker, Mohamed Atta. Despite everything, Karaj Kamel bin Ali has remained in
Bosnia-Hercegovina and served a seven-year prison sentence for murdering an Arab
in Zenica. He allegedly is also suspected of being involved in the murder of
Croat returnees and police officer in Travnik.
[Box] Conflict
The degree of Karaj Kamel bin Ali's loyalty to Usama bin Laden's ideas is best
illustrated by his conflict with former Al-Qa'idah officer Ali Hamad, who
continues to serve a prison sentence in Zenica. Ali Hamad, in his confession to
Glas Srpske, described the manner in which Karaj Kamel had responded to his plan
to leave Al-Qa'idah. Ali Hamad said that the verbal conflict ended with an open
death threat and two attempts to poison him. Ali Hamad was certain that Karaj
Kamel had been involved in these attempts.
New incident
One person was injured yesterday in Barcici near Kalesija, in a conflict between
Barcici residents and Wahhabis led by Jusuf Barcic.
The B-H Federation media, as reported by Beta agency, said that the residents
had taken things out of the mosque where the Wahhabis had lived and burnt them.
This was followed by a physical showdown that resulted in the injury of one
person and the demolishing of a vehicle.
Over the past few months Wahhabi followers led by Jusuf Barcic usurped several
mosques in Bosnia-Hercegovina. It is assumed that Barcic has around 200
followers in the B-H Federation who do not recognize the traditional
interpretation of Islam.
Source: Glas Srpske, Banja Luka, in
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 5 Mar 07
Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted for Fair Use only.