FBI TEAM REVIEWING BOSNIAN COURT'S EVIDENCE OF
TERRORIST ACTIVITIES - DAILY
BBC Monitoring International Reports - July 10, 2008 Thursday
Text of report by Bosnian edition of Croatian daily Vecernji list, on 5 July
[Report by Zlatko Tulic: "FBI Combing Through Sarajevo"]
Despite the fact that the media are a powerful tool to prevent intelligence
services from abusing their powers, they can also cause damage if they
irresponsibly use unreliable information. Certain media activities in the field
of reporting on terrorism in Bosnia-Hercegovina have caused much confusion in
some investigations. This is the reason why a special FBI team is visiting the
B-H Court; pursuant to numerous operational findings that have never been fully
realized in practice, the FBI special team has been combing through all
documentation pertaining to such findings.
Interesting Documents
According to some information, they have also have been reviewing documents
about active participation of fighters from Bosnia-Hercegovina in Afghanistan.
In this context, an important issue pertains to the degree of presence of
terrorism in Bosnia-Hercegovina, and specifically what its threat to the
citizens is.
Considering all of the relevant facts, this issue has until now been approached
on the basis of a "hot-cold" search. However, a study pertaining precisely to
the degree of the terrorist threat in Bosnia-Hercegovina says in no uncertain
terms that the infiltration of terrorists is currently the biggest threat to
Bosnia-Hercegovina.
On the other hand, the claim that infiltrated terrorists are currently the
biggest threat in Bosnia-Hercegovina is just one of nine points in this study
pertaining to the degree of threat from terrorism in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Degrees of Threat
This study cites as the first degree of the terrorist threat in Bosnia-Hercegovina
the "presence of unarmed groups." Judging by several arrests that took place in
Sarajevo, it is evident that such groups exist. These are activities of radical
groups whose ideology is active Islamism.
"Presence of armed activities." These activities were especially in the
spotlight until 1999, when a series of terrorist acts had been undertaken. In
most cases, however, no one had been convicted of these actions, or they had
remained "undiscovered." This largely leads to a conclusion about the
involvement of local institutions. These were a series of terrorist attacks on
Croat returnees in central Bosnia, the planting of explosives during the pope's
visit to Sarajevo, the assassination of B-H Federation Deputy Interior Minister
Jozo Leutar, and the car bomb attacks in Mostar. All of the cited cases indicate
local terrorism at work, and the only verdict that the B-H Court delivered for
terrorism was in the "Bektasevic and others" case.
"Terrorist infiltration." Although this point is ranked as the third degree of
the terrorist threat, it is described in the study as currently the biggest
threat to Bosnia-Hercegovina. At a critical stage, this element is reflected in
the failure to find perpetrators of terrorist acts, especially if they have the
support of a large number of citizens.
"Fanaticism." The fact that radical groups already exist in Bosnia-Hercegovina
may be seen as a form of fanaticism; in other words, if they have clear goals,
they also have plans for the future.
"Terrorists' level of equipment." In this degree of threat from terrorism, the
study emphasizes the role of state institutions, particularly those in charge of
destroying the arms surplus. Despite that several campaigns have been launched -
including those led by the international community - which resulted in the
scrapping of some of the surplus arms, major quantities of arms and explosive
ordnance from the war are still in the hands of the citizens, but the state has
not done much to destroy them.
"Terrorists' capability." Findings have revealed that someone today can easily
be trained to perform a terrorist act. Although traditional terrorist camps no
longer exist, any assembly of radical groups may be seen as a form of education.
"Priority tactic." All of the cases have so far indicated the existence of a
tactic to perform a terrorist act. The most vivid example of this is the "Bektasevic
case," which led to the discovery of explosives, equipment, and a bomb vest. On
the other hand, videotaping prior to the performance of a criminal act, which
was also discovered in the Bektasevic case, clearly indicates elements of
preparation and methodology.
"Direct target." A choice of target may be seen as a critical stage of a
terrorist threat because it implies that timely preparations for the criminals
act have been carried out. Although this degree has been marked as the most
dangerous, most experts in the B-H situation still think that the infiltration
of terrorists is the crucial degree of a terrorist threat.
"Terrorists' experience." The war in Bosnia-Hercegovina enabled a large number
of people actively to take part in combat and thereby get acquainted with
handling equipment. It is also known that, when the war ended, a certain number
of foreign fighters remained in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Additionally, it is known
that some B-H nationals went to new wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya and fought
alongside the Islamic fighters.
[Box, p 2] B-H in Jaws of Terrorism
To recall, a part of the network of terrorist organizations, primarily Al-Qa'idah,
was also present in Bosnia-Hercegovina. In this context we can talk about
Bosnia-Hercegovina finding itself in the network of global terrorism.
From the very outset of the war, Bosnia-Hercegovina attracted many Islamic
humanitarian organizations that were just a front for terrorist activities.
On the other hand, the primary task was to create space for the spreading of a
network whose primary goal was local terrorism - this is vividly illustrated by
the acts that have been committed over the past 20 years.
[p 3] Nongovernmental Sector: Not Interested in Terrorism
The shortcomings of the fight against terrorism are cited in the conclusions,
and they include the poor implementation of international agreements on the
fight against terrorism; minimal activities of nongovernmental organizations as
leaders of activities of the society's civil response to terrorism; and the lack
of education of citizens in getting acquainted with the threats from terrorism.
Conclusion: Major Threat
If other circumstances - such as the presence of various associations under the
guise of civil groups and of the abovementioned humanitarian organizations that
have been banned over the financing of the terrorist network - are considered
along with the nine degrees of the terrorist threat, we then may rightly say
that we are living in a country with an increased degree of the threat from
terrorism, says the conclusion of this study.
Source: Vecernji list (Bosnia-Hercegovina
edition), Zagreb, in Croatian 5 Jul 08 pp 2,3
Posted for Fair Use only.