Bosnian Serb paper analyses activities of
'radical Islamists'
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - December 19, 2006, Tuesday
Text of report D. Majstorovic: "Purity through the sword" published by
Bosnian Serb newspaper Glas Srpske on 15 December
It is a public secret that for years now Sarajevo and other big cities in
Bosnia-Hercegovina have seen the existence of a so-called "Shari'ah Police,"
which openly attack courting couples on the streets and in the parks because
they consider any public display of emotion as simply not being in keeping with
Islam. Lying behind the term "Shari'ah Police" are, of course, young Wahhabis,
who are determined to "educate" the youth of Bosnia in the right manner.
If these were just isolated incidents bearing the hallmark of young Wahhabis,
then perhaps one could turn a blind eye to them. But the fact is that the matter
is much, much more serious. The most recent example was the shooting in a mosque
in Novi Pazar, which drew a reaction from the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
whose message was that those who want to threaten the traditional interpretation
of Islam are not welcome in this region. Before the shooting, Wahhabis in Novi
Pazar had used violence to halt a concert by the Belgrade Balkanika band; and in
the summer they beat up a Serb called Mihailo Kisic near Brcko. A few years
earlier one of the followers of the Wahhabi teaching of Islam in Bosnia-Hercegovina
appalled the domestic and international public through the monstrous killing of
the Andjelic family, Croat returnees in the village of Kostajnica near Konjic.
We recall that Muamer Topalovic, who was 25 at the time, broke into the house of
the Andjelic family on the Catholic Christmas Eve and killed three members of
the family. During the subsequent investigation and trial it was established
that Topalovic was a member of the alleged humanitarian organization Jamiyat al-Furkan,
which for years has been on the UN black list as a sponsor and abettor of
international terrorism. Without batting an eyelid, Topalovic admitted to the
court that he had killed the Andjelic's "for religious reasons."
Serbs returning to the village of Bocinja, under Mt Ozren near Maglaj, which had
been settled by foreign Mujahidin and domestic Wahhabis, were more fortunate
than the Andjelic family. Luckily, they escaped just with beatings and threats,
as well as open calls to convert to Islam, because if they wanted to live in the
village only Islam would guarantee them peace and security.
Unfortunately, Bocinja is not the only refuge for radical Islamists. There is
also the village of Gornja Maoca, near Brcko, where about 30 home-grown Wahhabis
live with their families. Last year this village found its way on to the pages
of all domestic and foreign papers, chiefly because of the assertions by Western
intelligence services that a group of Wahhabis from Gornja Maoca had left for
Italy in order to prepare for a big terrorist attack that they were apparently
going to carry out at the funeral of the late head of the Roman Catholic Church,
Pope John Paul II.
Quoting intelligence reports, the US publication Defence and Foreign Affairs
stated that three groups of former Mujahidin, who had links with Al-Qa'idah and
had been trained in the triangle between Tuzla, Zenica and Brcko, had left
Gornja Maoca for the Vatican. It was clear that something sinister had been
going on after a joint operation by the Croatian and Italian police, each acting
on their own territory, which broke up groups tasked with organizing and
carrying out terrorist attacks.
This US publication also reported that one of the groups had been trained under
the watchful eye of Kenan Bajric, a policeman from Brcko District. According to
the paper, training was also carried out at the house of the father of Hajrudin
Ribic, who is known to have been a member of the Wahhabi community. It is
alleged that over a period of months a succession of groups of Mujahidin stayed
there for between eight and 10 months at a time, not venturing out of the house.
It is not known whether "brain-washing" really did take place there, as the US
paper claims. But the connection between Gornja Maoca and Al-Qa'idah was far
from hidden even at a later date. We recall that four years ago members of SFOR
[Stabilization Force] arrested one Sabahudin Fiuljanin, who was accused of being
a member of Al-Qa'idah and of photographing the McGovern SFOR base near Brcko as
part of preparations for a terrorist attack. SFOR spokesman Yves Vanier said at
the time that the international stabilization forces had established that the
arrested man was a member of Al-Qa'idah. It had done so on the basis of
material, arms and weapons that had been seized from his house in Gornja Maoca.
Western intelligence services say that Wahhabis are also present in Cazin,
Velika Kladusa, Kozarac, Jablanica and places all over Bosnia-Hercegovina. They
are also in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Macedonia and Albania. This was also
indicated recently by the Al-Qa'idah number two, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who did
not hide the fact that the Balkans plays an important role in the international
plans of this terrorist network until 2010.
Regardless of all of this, the Bosniak political leadership continues to reject
all warnings and says that every attempt to link Bosnia-Hercegovina with
international terrorism is just a malicious frame-up by its opponents. Whether
the alarming warning from the very top of the Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina
will make a fundamental change in Sarajevo's official stance is a question that
is yet to be answered.
[Box] Warnings
At the beginning of this year graduate Islamic theologist Jasmin Merdan and
Adnan Mesanovic translated the book "Wahhabism and Salafism" by the
distinguished author Hasan Alliance Saqaf. Merdan believes that Wahhabism
presents a hidden danger to Bosnia-Hercegovina and is one of the few people to
give warnings about the alarming situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The best
testament to just how serious his warnings are is the research by the Prism
Research agency, which has the information that 3.3 per cent of respondents to a
poll in Bosnia-Hercegovina regard themselves as supporters of the Wahhabi
movement and practice such an approach to Islam. One in nine of Muslim citizens
of Bosnia-Hercegovina supports this movement.
[Box] Leaders
The book "Salafism" also names unofficial leaders of the Wahhabi movement in
Bosnia-Hercegovina. Heading the list is Jusuf Barcic, who the authors of the
book say is famous mainly for his statement that "traffic lights are not allowed
in Islamic countries." Shoulder to shoulder with him is Nasuf Abdelsalamud
Busatlic, a member of the Active Islamic Youth, which many people believe to be
a purely Wahhabi movement. Also on this list is the former leader of the Active
Islamic Youth, Adnan Pezo, who is said to be a persona non grata in Saudi
Arabia.
Source: Glas Srpske, Banja Luka, in
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 15 Dec 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted for Fair Use only.