Islamic Jihad official threatens to fight in Bosnia "again"
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - March 19, 2007 Monday

Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Sarajevo, 19 March: A senior Islamic Jihad official, Ali Abu-Shahin, has said that members of this Palestinian militant organization will, if necessary, fight in Bosnia-Hercegovina [B-H] again.

In an interview for the Bosnian edition of Vecernji list, Abu-Shahin admitted that Islamic Jihad was directly involved in helping "our brothers Muslims in that country" since the start of the war in B-H.

"Apart from the financial help and weapons, we sent them fighters who with their lives gave the greatest contribution to that struggle. This is our pride, and if something like this is necessary again, we shall be available," Abu-Shahin said. Vecernji list writes that he is in hiding and has strong security because he fears Israel's revenge.

Abu-Shahin says this Palestinian faction is not surprised by the ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which absolved Serbia of guilt for genocide in Srebrenica.

"Even during the war, our brothers who fought in B-H met Alija Izetbegovic [Bosnian Muslim war-time leader] and told him that these were not conflicts with Chetniks [derogatory name for Serbs], as it was said then, but that behind this was the international community which wanted to eradicate Muslims in Bosnia," Abu-Shahin said.

He said that Islamic Jihad fears that the new pope, Benedict XVI, "sided with the oppressors whose only aim is to destroy Islam". [passage omitted: Islamic Jihad threatened the USA]

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0824 gmt 19 Mar 07

Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
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