BOSNIAN SERB RETURNEES FEAR INFLUX OF "MUJAHIDIN, WAHHABIS" TO BOCINJA VILLAGE
SRNA - July 9, 2004

Doboj, 9 July: Serb returnees to Bocinja near Maglaj will ask the OHR (Office of the High Representative) and all international organizations in Bosnia-Hercegovina to prevent a fresh mass influx of mujahidin in this area, the president of the peace council of the local community of Bocinja, Bosko Jovanovic, said today.

"The massive newly-constructed building in Bocinja, which international and domestic officials said would have a residential and business character, now serves for the religious rituals of mujahidin and followers of the Wahhabi ideology from throughout Bosnia-Hercegovina, which threatens the security of Serb returnees and obstructs the process of return of refugees," Jovanovic told SRNA.

Before the war Bocinja had 578 Serb families, of which 120 have so far returned to their homes.

During the war this village was home to 170 Islamic mercenaries belonging to the Muslim army's Al-Mujahid unit, as well as dozens of Bosnian Muslim families that accepted Wahhabism as their religious orientation.

The mojahedin had left Bocinja under pressure from the international community at the end of 2000, when Serbs began returning. However, in the meantime the mujahidin bought nine houses, which they continue to occupy.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1054 gmt 9 Jul 04

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