Countries
of the Western Balkans have long been a target of Islamic fanatics
aiming to create an opening for radical Islam to expand into Western
Europe and the US. Cross-border cooperation of Islamic terrorists and
extremists reveals much about the structure of their organization,
their goals, and their methods. The biggest terrorist attack in
history, September 11, was undertaken with the assistance of Islamic
extremists directly or indirectly linked to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Keywords: terrorism, Al-Qaeda, Islamic extremists, humanitarian organizations, global network, Islamic fanaticism;
Introduction
One
should not look at the contemporary world for the roots of terrorism
used as a means of fighting by Islamic extremists. Though it can be
said that contributing causes of Islamic terrorism are social and
economic circumstances and the ideological replacement of Communism by
Islamic fanaticism, the main cause motivating Islamic fanatics for
centuries has been the establishment of a global Islamic state - the Ummah.
In this way, Islam itself has been abused as an excuse for the
fanatics’ ambitions. There is also the issue of misinterpreting the
Koran, mostly by those Muslims who publicly declare Islam a religion of
peace while in private dedicate themselves to the pan-Islamic cause
that simply excludes the existence of others. Among those who engage in
religious manipulation without hindrance – indeed, with approval of the
highest religious authorities – are terrorists of the Al-Qaeda network.
Bosnian
Muslims’ religious authorities and the international community ought to
be very concerned that Al-Hussein Hilmi Arman Ahmad, a.k.a. Eslam
Durmo, was at the head of 16 madrassahsduring
the Bosnian civil war, and six afterwards. He was identified as the
ideological leader of the radical Islamic Wahhabi movement in Islamic
terrorist circles. According to official Egyptian sources, Eslam Durmo
is actually Al-Hussein Hilmi Arman Ahmad, born 14 January 1960 in
Cannae. Egyptian authorities suspect him of felonies such as document
forgery and the 1997 terrorist attack in Luxor. Durmo is also indicated
as an associate of Osama bin Laden. As a member of “El-mujahid” unit of
the “Bosnian Army,” which connected to heinous war crimes and
atrocities against civilians and POWs, Durmo published a religious
instruction book, titled “Ideas that need to be corrected” (Shvatanja koja treba ispraviti).
This pamphlet was printed by the Kuwaiti so-called humanitarian NGO
“Islamic Thought Revival.” What could this man, with a criminal past
and terrorist ties, teach Bosnian Muslim youth about religion? Who
allowed him to engage in religious instruction at all? The answer is
not so elusive when one considers that many governments, Iran most of
all, share Eslam Durmo’s opinions and beliefs.
Former
Iranian leader and president Ayatollah Khomeini publicly advocated
Iranan leadership of a global Islamic revolution. In Qom, on 14 January
1980, reviewing a company of 120 Pakistani officers training for
terrorism and sabotage operations, he said: “We are in a war against
infidels. Take this message with you – I ask all Islamic nations, all
Muslims, all Islamic armies and all presidents of Muslim nations to
join the Holy War. There are many enemies that need to be killed or
destroyed. Jihad must triumph.”
A religious leader, a terrorist – or both? Long before anyone else,
Khomeini began to attack Western targets with suicide bombers. He
trained extremists to practice suicide attacks in Lebanon. Thousands of
young Muslims from around the world were trained for suicide attacks at
the Besheshita camp near Karay, west of Tehran. In addition to men,
some 300 women were trained at this camp, under the instruction of
Zahra Rahneward. There were many other camps for military and
theological instructions, all in the function of pan-Islamic
revolution. Former Iranian leader Khomeini is also the originator of
the idea of using airplanes for suicide attacks. In the early 1980s,
Iran had ordered a number of PC-7 airplanes for just this purpose.
Pilots were sent to North Korea for suicidal training, and sent upon
their return ton the newly established Shahid Chamran Airbase near
Busheher. Members of these suicide squadrons were called the “Pasdaran
pilots.”
Other nations besides Iran have accepted the ideas of Islamic revolution.
Initially,
the fledgling terrorist network of Islamic extremists operated on two
tracks. The first, and legal, relied on Islamic organizations such as
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the World Islamic
League (RABITA) and “Islamic Committee for Palestine,” who practiced
influence through mutual solidarity, financial aid and a network of
connections in Western Europe and the US.
The
other, and illegal, focused on achieving the fundamental ideas of the
Ummah through extremist groups practicing violence and terror, with the
help of terrorism-sponsoring governments and the aforementioned
organizations. Such groups were, for example, the “Muslim brotherhood”
and “Gama’a al – Islamiyya” of Egypt, and the “Armed Islamic Group”
(GIA) of Algeria. These and other terrorist groups of Islamic
extremists help Muslims anywhere in the world who fight for Islamic
extremist causes, offering them ideological and military assistance.
That some of today’s most notorious terrorists took part in the civil
wars of the former Yugoslavia – especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Kosovo-Metohia and the possible conflict in Raska – casts a new light
on the nature of these conflicts and the true aims of Islamic
extremists in the Western Balkans. More alarmingly, these extremists
have found military and political support from the West. For example,
Issa Abdullah (a.k.a. Abu Abdullah), a naturalized US citizen of
Palestinian origin and a “Hamas” member, who came to B-H to train
mujahid’din with other US Special Forcesinstructors,
proceeded to conduct terrorist activities unhindered, with the full
knowledge of the Clinton Administration. Other members of Abdullah’s
group were assembled at a New Jersey mosque, and trained on a private
property nearby. Officials who had a key role in bringing in the
mujahid’din from North America to Bosnia and the Balkans are: Safet
Catovic, Ivica Misic and Muhamed Sacirbey.
Links between 9/11 and the Al-Qaeda network in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Officials
of the Muslim-Croat Federation in B-H never released any information to
the US investigators or lawyers representing the families of 9/11
victims, because such information would cast a new light on the entire
B-H conflict. They would have made it obvious that the war was a jihad, a religious war waged against Bosnia’s Christians by the Islamic extremists.
The
Interpol office in Wiesbaden, Germany sent a request to the Bosnian
authorities on 18 September 2001 to verify the identity of a certain
Mr. Atta, who according to their information used to reside in the
hamlet of Bakotic, 8 km outside Maglaj, in 1999. Attached to the
request was the photo of Mohamed Atta, and a note to verify it through
a certain Mehmed Hasanic, a resident of Bakotic. This means Mohamed
Atta was trained in B-H; it is known that he left B-H for Hamburg, from
where he proceeded to the United States and his ultimate mission – to
destroy the Twin Towers.
SEVEN KEY AL-QAEDA MEMBERS WHO DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TOOK PART IN 9/11 AND ARE LINKED TO BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Sheikh Omar abd-al Rahman
(convicted of the 1993 attack on the WTC) was connected with the
so-called humanitarian organization TWRA, which was a cover for
terrorists. Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic made personal
guarantees for TWRA’s general director and personal friend Elfatih
Hassanein, so he could open an account with Die Erste Osterreich Bank in Vienna, Austria in 1993.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar,
who recruited Mohamed Atta into Al-Qaeda, had a terrorist base in
Bosnia. Zammar is also responsible for recruiting two of Atta’s
lieutenants, Ramzi Binalsahib and Said Bahaji.
Osama bin Laden
received a Bosnian passport from the Embassy in Vienna, Austria. Many
other Al-Qaeda members were issued B-H passports, which enabled them to
continue their terrorist activities.
Abu al-Ma’ali
(Abdelkader Mokhtari), a senior Al-Qaeda operative, was stationed in
Bosnia until recently. Just a few years ago, US officials used to call
him “Osama Bin Laden, Jr.”
Bensayah Belkacem
was arrested in Bosnia in October 2001. Numbers saved in his cell phone
connected him with at least one top-rank associate of Bin Laden.
Al-Qaeda’s
role in radical Islamic activities and events in Bosnia has been
frequently mentioned in US media and official government reports since
the 9/11 tragedy.
REPORT OF THE JOINT INQUIRY INTO THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 –
BY THE HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND THE
SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
Page 131.
…..Al-Hazmi first traveled to Afghanistan in 1993 as a teenager and came into contact with a
key al-Qa’ida facilitator in Saudi Arabia in 1994. In 1995, al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar traveled to
Bosnia to fight with other Muslims against the Serbs. Al-Hazmi probably came into contact with
al-Qa’ida leader Abu Zubaydah when Zubaydah visited Saudi Arabia in 1996 to convince young
Saudis to attend al-Qa’ida camps in Afghanistan. Sometime before 1998, al-Hazmi returned to
Afghanistan and swore loyalty to Bin Ladin. He fought against the Northern Alliance, possibly
with his brother Salem, another of the hijackers, and returned to Saudi Arabia in early 1999,
[page 138] where, [ ], he disclosed information about the East Africa embassy bombings.
Al-Mihdhar’s first trip to the Afghanistan training camps was in early 1996. (131)
……………..
Page 134.
Mohamed Atta lived at Marienstrasse 54 in Hamburg with Bin al-Shibh, Essabar, and Bahaji.
Director Tenet testified that, after Bin al-Shibh failed to obtain a U.S. visa, “another cell
member,” Essabar, “tried [on two occasions in December 2000] and failed to obtain a visa in
January 2001” to travel to Florida while Atta and al-Shehhi were there. Uncorroborated sources
report that Essabar was in Afghanistan in late September 2001. Bahaji left Germany on
September 3, 2001 for Pakistan. Uncorroborated sources also placed him in Afghanistan in late
September 2001.
DCI Tenet testified that Muhammad Heydar Zammar was an acquaintance of members of
Atta’s circle in Hamburg, where Zammar lived. Zammar, a German citizen born in Syria in
1961, was described by DCI Tenet as “a known al-Qa’ida associate,” active in Islamic extremist
circles since the 1980s, who trained and fought in Afghanistan in 1991 and in Bosnia in 1995 and
returned to Afghanistan a number of times between 1995 and 2000.
It has been reported that U.S. and German officials believe that Zammar is a pivotal
figure in understanding the genesis of the September 11 attacks. DCI Tenet told the Joint
[page 141] Inquiry that Zammar “was taken into custody by the Moroccans [ ]”
when he traveled to Morocco to divorce his wife and that he was “moved from Morocco into
Syrian custody, where he has remained.” It has also been reported that Zammar has provided
details about the September 11 attacks to U.S. investigators. According to the DCI, Zammar has
said that he met Atta, al-Shehhi, and Jarrah in the late 1990s in Hamburg’s al-Qods mosque and
he “persuaded them to travel to Afghanistan to join the jihad.”
DCI Tenet testified that Atta may have traveled to Afghanistan for the first
The NSA Director also cautioned in his testimony, “If these hearings were about the war
that had broken out in Korea or the crisis in the Taiwan Straits that had taken us by surprise or if
we had been surprised by a conflict in South Asia or if we had lost an aircraft over Iraq or if
American forces had suffered casualties in Bosnia or Kosovo, in any of these cases I would be
here telling you that I had not put enough analysts or linguists against the problem. We needed
more analysts and linguists across the agency, period.”
383
TOP SECRET
Al-Qaeda’s modern organization based on the “Bosnia model”
The
Western Balkans has been a region of interest to Islamic extremists for
decades. Numerous Muslims living in the so-called “Green Traverse”
represent both a recruitment pool and a springboard for attacks in
Western Europe. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Raska region (a.k.a.
Sanjak) are frequently used as Jihad’s gateway into the European
heartland. The notion is not new, only more visible today than ever
before.
One
tactic the Islamic fanatics implemented in the Western Balkans was
population warfare. When Muslims are a minority, they seek to increase
their numbers through high birthrates – sometimes ten times those of
the non-Muslim populace. Once they attain a majority in a desired
territory, they invoke the popular claim of Islamic fanatics: “Allah’s
law on Allah’s land”.
Thus in mid-1994, the top Bosnian Muslim cleric (Reis-ul-ulema) Mustafa
Ceric issued a decree ordering Bosnian Muslim women to bear at least
five children.
Studies
of Islamic extremists’ activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Balkans
in general, their international connections, and the consequences of
their political, propaganda and terrorist activities (including war
crimes) have provided valuable insights into the global Islamic terror
network. According to the available information, the Al-Qaeda network
seems to consist of several committees. Every committee is an important
link in the chain, engaged at the local, national and international
level. International activity includes the recruitment of individuals
with substantial political power, which can be used to further Islamic
fundamentalist objectives.
The Financial Committee has
the task to provide the Network’s funding. Fundraising methods differ
from place to place, but rely mainly on accounts directly or indirectly
available to Osama Bin Laden and the funds provided through the wide
network of “humanitarian organizations” which use their charity as a
cover for fundraising and recruitment of future terrorists. This
committee is also in charge of money transfers.
One of its methods is the “hawala” system, where money and other
commodities are transferred directly, without the involvement of banks.
Such transactions are virtually impossible to trace. Basic funding
derives primarily from the production and distribution of narcotics –
specifically heroin, which is produced in Afghanistan, then distributed
to Western European and US markets through a sophisticated network. One
Kosovo Albanian was recently arrested at the Bajakovo border crossing
between Croatia and Serbia-Montenegro, in possession of 48 kg of
heroin. By and large, Kosovo Albanians are not Islamic fanatics, but as
heroin smugglers, they are an important link in Al-Qaeda’s chain.
Profits from the heroin trade are also very difficult to trace.
Funds
thus obtained are put to use in pursuit of Islamic fanatics’ darkest
aims. Al-Qaeda and other organizations act locally, but think globally.
For example, the newly established Islamic terrorist organization,
LIVO, whose striking fist is the Uzbekistan Islamic Movement, is
pursuing the plan for establishing Islamic states – and eventually, the
Caliphate – in Central Asia, funded and aided by the Financial and the
Military committees of Al-Qaeda.
The Law and Religion committee
focuses on justifying terrorist activities. In conjunction with the
Media committee, it promotes the view that everywhere in the world,
Muslims are constantly victims, and even when they do commit
atrocities, those are fully justified as self-defense and righteous
Jihad. The ultimate aim is to foment conflict between all Muslims and
the rest of the civilized world.
The Media Committee coordinates
with the owners of pro-fundamentalist media and activists inside major
media outlets to spread Islamic fundamentalist propaganda. The basic
function of this Committee is to justify the activities of Islamic
fundamentalists. The main weapon is to claim that Muslims are always
and everywhere the exclusive victims of violence. Of course, truth is
completely different, because the Islamic fundamentalists initiate
violence for the purpose of establishing the pan-Islamic Ummah, a
theocracy that excludes the existence of other religions. For example,
in Kosovo-Metohia Islamic extremists among the Kosovo Albanians, with
Al-Qaeda’s help, have managed to create a perception that the Albanian
majority was endangered by the Serb minority. Thanks to the work of the
Media Committee, the secession and terrorism of Islamic fundamentalists
among the Kosovo Albanians were presented as a “struggle for freedom.”
One of the main objectives of the Islamic fundamentalists’ global
network is to create a perception in the world public opinion that
Muslims are always the victims, in order to justify conflict and
conquest. Victim status is thus claimed for Kosovo Albanians, their
co-religionists in Kashmir, Palestine, Russia (Chechnya), Sudan,
Tanzania, Bosnia, Macedonia, Malaysia, East Timor, etc.
In addition to recruiting and training the Jihadi suicide bombers, the Military Committee also
coordinates, plans, and commands terrorist activities throughout the
world. It organizes logistical support for the attacks, sets the
objectives and maintains communication with terrorist cells, all for
the purpose of accomplishing the ultimate objective – a global Islamic
state, Ummah, built by jihad and atrocities in the name of
Allah. One of the first camps training the members of the global
Islamic terror network was in Iran, established by Imam Khomeini
personally. The first commander of the camp was Sheik Abbas Golru, a
prominent member of the Syrian-run Palestinian terrorist organization
al-Saiqa.
The NGO Committee coordinates
an entire network of NGOs connected by the shared ideals of Islamic
fundamentalism and common funding. These organizations often have names
that lack any Islamic identification. The goal of these organizations
is to infiltrate the civil society of countries such as the US, UK,
France and Italy, but also countries such as Tanzania and Nigeria.
These NGOs have many purposes, but the main one is to raise funds for
Islamic fundamentalists and influence the public opinion of the host
countries. Many of these NGOs are cover for Islamic countries’
intelligence operations. Islamic countries used to have rudimentary
intelligence operations, but that situation has changed. They have a
defined goal – the creation of the Ummah. They have a defined enemy –
all those who do not follow the Koran, non-Muslims, “infidels.” They
have a defined method of struggle – terrorism. This is truly a
frightening danger to modern civilization, one the entire world should
be concerned about.
The Government Committee recruits
government officials of target nations, contributes financially and
otherwise to the campaigns of recruited elected officials, and
coordinates with intelligence services of terrorism-sponsoring nations.
This Committee pursues the goal of establishing the Ummah by working
through government institutions both nationally and internationally.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is a typical example
of how the Islamic fundamentalist network is protected internationally.
The organization has over 60 members, and is currently the strongest
international voting bloc in the United Nations.
It is extremely important to note that every committee can function autonomously.
The
model depicted above is a basic scheme of Al-Qaeda, which is defined as
all organizations serving the cause of Islamic extremists. Al-Qaeda
does not have a supreme command, but a supreme objective. Its
instructions are what the Islamic extremists believe is contained in
the Koran. All this makes Al-Qaeda unpredictable. Only observation and
analysis of the committees’ actions at all levels can explain the
consequences of their activities. After several decades of activity
worldwide, it is becoming increasingly clear who finances the
terrorists, what sort of global propaganda they employ and with whose
assistance, and how entire nations are being demonized at Al-Qaeda’s
behest. [Wartime Bosnian Muslim officials] Haris Silajdzic and Muhamed
Sacirbey used to pay large sums of money to public relations firms,
such as Ruder Finn LLC, to demonize Serbs. It is entirely clear today
where this money came from.
The “White Al-Qaeda” in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Information
available to experts on international terrorism indicate that B-H is at
this time one of the most dangerous countries in Europe, as it
represents a nursery for potential Islamic terrorists – the so called
“white” or “European” Al-Qaeda. Money from Islamic countries that is
laundered through “humanitarian” organizations finances the religious
education of at least 100,000 young Bosnian Muslims. In addition to
such education, which follows the interpretations of Wahhabi Islam,
there is another type of “training” in various officially registered
camps throughout the B-H Federation. There, the young and carefully
selected Wahhabis attend “additional courses” in marksmanship,
explosives and martial arts. Organizations such as “Furqan,” the
“Active Islamic Youth,” the “Muslim Youth Council” and others –
differing only in name and primary donors, but otherwise
interchangeable – teach young Muslims computer and Internet skills, so
they could establish contacts with their coreligionists worldwide.
Knowing all this, the former head of UN Mission in Bosnia Jacques Paul
Klein recently said that some 200 mujahid’din in Bosnia did not
represent a danger, because they can be easily controlled.
Klein knew it would be a lot more difficult to stop the spread of young
Bosnian Wahhabis throughout Europe, youths who consider Osama Bin Laden
and the mujahid’din role models.
Al-Qaeda’s Network: Iran to the Balkans, via Turkey
Investigation
of the recent suicide attacks on British and Jewish targets in Istanbul
has shown that some of the terrorists involved had been trained in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. On the other hand, Iran has given a new identity to
the spiritual leader of Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.
A few months ago, Iran released from prison several high-ranking
Al-Qaeda members, and there are indications they were behind the
terrorist attacks in Istanbul. The Iranian regime has long been known
as a financier and sponsor of terrorists exported all over the world,
especially in the Balkans. It is well known that Iran had sent a
Republican Guard unit to B-H, and their secret service (VEVAK) has
established and helped train the Bosnian Muslim secret service (AID).
One of the key assets of the Iranian intelligence in B-H is Dzemal
Merdan, who had undergone military and religious training and become
loyal to the ideas of Ayatollah Khomeini. His loyalty was rewarded by
appointing him a liaison to foreign mujahid’din. This man is
responsible for hundreds of murders of ethnic Croats.
Early in the B-H civil war, several dozen Islamic extremists came to
B-H with the help of Iran and Merdan’s coordination. Together with the
Cengic clan, Merdan controlled Central Bosnia.
Iranian
authorities and radical Turkish groups have worked on two fronts. The
first was establishing a “green traverse” in the Balkans, and the
second a similar corridor in central Asia, through Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and – very importantly – the
Chinese province of Xinyang. Cells of Al-Qaeda were established in all
those countries and regions. Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden were
involved in setting up the network in the Balkans, along with
terrorists from Saudi Arabia. Even the Saudi government funded
terrorism, notably through theh High Saudi Committee for Aid to
Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose representatives were granted the
extraordinary privilege of diplomatic license plates (and the resulting
immunity) for their vehicles, in clear violation of existing law. It is
assumed that Bosnian authorities had also issued diplomatic passports
to the same representatives, but such a contention is almost impossible
to verify.
One
notable link in that chain is Jusuf Halilagic, now Minister of Civil
Affairs and Communications for B-H, and a former high-ranking officer
of the 3rd Bosnian Army Corps, home of the notorious
“El-Mujahid” unit. Halilagic was the one who drove Abu Hamza, one of
the most wanted Islamic terrorists in the world, from Rijeka (Croatia)
into Bosnia in 1992, in his private "Zastava 101" vehicle. Halilagic
and other Islamic extremists in B-H had long prepared for the arrival
of Islamic volunteers from the Middle East, north Africa, south Asia
and even Western countries, known as the “Afghans.” After fighting in
Bosnia, certain Arab intelligence agencies started calling these people
“Bosnians,” claiming they were far more dangerous than mere “Afghans.”
Muslim intelligence agencies in Bosnia, such as AID, usually refer to
these men as the “AA factor,” noting their African and Asian origin.
Since
the beginning of their involvement in Bosnia, Abu Ma'ali (originally
from Algeria) was one of the leader of Islamic extremists, and the
first commander of the “El-Mujahid” unit. After the Dayton Peace
Accords, it was demanded from Muslim authorities in Sarajevo that Abu
Ma’ ali should leave B-H, because of his connections to Al-Qaeda.
According to the Croatian weekly “Globus,” the celebratory farewell to
Abu Ma’ali as he departed for Chechnya was attended by Bakir
Izetbegovic, the son of Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic.
However, there are also indications that Ma’ali has simply assumed a
new identity, with the help of high-ranking Bosnian Muslim officials,
and continues to live in the B-H Federation. Abu Ma’ ali is considered
one of the closest associates of the notorious terrorist Abu Tala’t.
The
fact that Halilagic is today a member of the Coordinating Task Force
for combating terrorism in B-H speaks volumes about the involvement of
the Bosnian Muslim leadership with Al-Qaeda. Halilagic was delegated to
that post by the Party of Democratic Action, whose founder is the
Islamic extremist and war criminal
Alija Izetbegovic. Immediately after his death in October 2003, ICTY
prosecutor’s spokesperson Florence Hartmann said that it had been a
matter of days before an indictment was issued against Izetbegovic. It
remains a mystery why the ICTY had not indicted Izetbegovic in his
lifetime, as they had not lacked evidence. There is also a suspicion
that this institution is under a strong influence of Islamic nations
and interest groups.
Nonetheless, Izetbegovic directly participated in the cover-up and
reorganization of Al-Qaeda in Bosnia. In the Dayton agreement there was
a provision that all mujahid’din would leave Bosnia. That never
happened, thanks to the ties between the Islamic terrorist networks and
the top leadership of the Bosnian Muslims.
Turkish
authorities have established the link between the suspects in the
Istanbul bombings and the global network of Islamic terrorists. A year
before the attacks, the ICNA (Islamic Council of North America) website
stated that the greatest enemies of Islam were “Jews, Crusaders” [i.e.
Christians], and especially among those, “Russians and Serbs.” Consider
now the sequence of the attacks – first the synagogues (Jews), then the
British consulate and bank (“Crusaders”), followed soon thereafter by a
train in Russian. This has all the makings of a clash of civilizations,
one that Islamic extremists are trying to impose on the world’s Muslims.
The Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Bosnia-Herzegovina
It
is little known that Islamic fanatics trained to fight against the
Serbs in B-H in camps near Istanbul and Hamburg, Germany, particularly
between 1993 and 1995. Notable Al-Qaeda members involved in this
operation were: Cupic Muric, Abu el Mani, Ahmed bin Muhamed, Harmas
Sami, Abdulah Hadi, Imam Zilfili, Abu Hamza, Mustafa Kamel, Karim
Atmani, Faruk Besic, and Abdul Hamid. Osama bin laden’s main Balkans
liaison, closely connected to the Greek terrorist organization 17
November, is Omar Alawadi. According to some sources, Alawadi is
currently in B-H, preparing for action with local extremists and fresh
arrivals from Islamic countries. This is information that ought to
alarm the Greek government, especially with the upcoming Olympics.
The
principle along which the terror network is established is very simple.
Consider the example of central Asia, where recently a terrorist
organization “LIVO” was established with the help of Iran and Turkish
extremist groups. From Uzbekistan, young men were sent for training to
Al-Qaeda camps in northern Afghanistan. After returning to their
villages, in each village they created a guerrilla unit. These units
were then sent to Afghanistan or Iraq to gain the necessary combat
experience, so they would some day hopefully initiate an Islamic
revolution at home.
The same exact pattern occurred in the Balkans. Young men from Kosovo went to Al-Qaeda camps in northern Albania,
which were visited by Bin Laden himself (according to reliable
information). They returned to Kosovo and organized guerrilla bands in
their villages. The same happened in Raska (Sanjak), where Muslim
youths went to war in B-H, then returned home, and now present a threat
to regional security. Given their international connections, that
regional threat can easily become global.
The
alarming fact is that a complete terrorist network exists in the
territory of Serbia and Montenegro, ready to execute any order by the
centers of Islamic extremism, while the disinterested Serbia-Montenegro
authorities have behaved as if the problem did not exist.
An
Islamic university was established recently. Some Serbian politicians
who applauded that development obviously do not know what lies at the
root of the Wahhabi teachings: extremism, spreading of Islam by force.
Will Serbia allow its children, Orthodox or Muslim, be taught the
language of hate, no matter how attractively packaged?
Not
so long ago, an association of citizens “Furqan” was registered in
Sarajevo as a “non-governmental, non-political organization.” Yet one
of its goals, as the organization’s charter says, is the “establishment
of B-H as a state ordered under the Shari’a and true Islamic values.”
Headed by Nermin Karacic, “Furqan” has offices in Zenica, Zavidovici,
Konjic, Visoko and Ilijaš, where the strictest religious (and yes,
political) indoctrination of the members takes place. Instructors are
lecturers from Islamic universities in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.
Among the domestic instructors, one name stands out Nezim-effendi
Halilovic Muderis, imam of the “King Fahd” mosque and Islamic center in
Sarajevo, and one of the Wahhabi leaders in the B-H Federation.
Halilovic is considered responsible for war crimes his unit had
committed against the Serb civilians in the municipality of Konjic.
Interesting as well are the topics of the “lectures,” or at least their
titles: “The path of struggle for Islam”; “Obstacles on the road to
Islamic revival”; “The Islamic state”; and “Allah’s will be done,
whatever the infidels do.” The paths of “Islamic struggle” for Furqan’s
students often lead to a camp on Lake Jablanica. As the organization’s
document indicate, the camp attendees “as some of the best, should be
proud they were chosen to attend the camp, and they need to justify
that honor.” Similar camps have been organized in the summer at Crni
Vrh and Cerovac hill in Tešanj municipality, and on the Bosnia river
island near the village of Nemila near Zenica. The same sources
indicate that young Islamists have organized several “camping trips”
near Sarajevo, Travnik, Konjic, Jablanica, Bugojno, Bihac, Cazin and
Velika Kladuša. The “campers” occasionally become members of the
“Active Islamic Youth (AIO), another NGO on the American blacklist.
The
AIO was established in Zenica in October 1995 by the veterans of the
notorious unit “El-Mujahid.” The first president of the organization,
which has offices in every Muslim-majority municipality in the B-
Federation, was Nedim Haracic. Later that office was held by Ismet
Fazlic, Adnan Pezo and Almin Foco. Activists of AIO can be found among
the returning refugees in the Serb Republic’s border areas, especially
in Kotorsko near Doboj, where the AIO is headed by Tahir Halilovic,
Emir Lišinovic, Muris Sivcevic and Džemal Becic. A strong AIO presence
was also noted in the village of Kamenica in Teslic municipality (RS),
where the organization is headed by Mithad Topovcic, Esad Stenaklic and
Mehmed Cerovac. The current seat of this radical Islamic organization
is in the Sarajevo quarter of Bistrik, which explains why the focus of
the AIO’s efforts has been on the Bosnian capital.
In
2000, AIO activists sent anonymous threat letters to representatives of
the international community – demanding they leave B-H – and political
opponents of the SDA. Because of the Russian Army’s activities against
the Chechen separatists and terrorists, AIO also threatened to attack
the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo. AIO was one of the organizers of the
mass Islamic protests in Sarajevo in May 2002. AIO was also behind the
notorious protests against the New Year, and against the arrest of Imad
al-Misri, who was extradited to Egypt along with El Sharif Hassan
Mahmoud Sad in October 2001 by the FB-H authorities, on charges of
terrorism.
After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, AIO increased
the pace of their activities, intent on creating anti-American
sentiments among the Bosnian Muslims. The organization recruited
volunteers and money for the Taliban in the regions of Tuzla and
Zavidovici. But the peak of their activities was surely the protest
against the extradition of six arrested Algerians to US authorities in
January 2003, which was put together by the member of AIO’s inner
circle Jasmin Hardauš. Also notable were the posters attacking the
then-Yugoslav president Vojislav Koštunica on the eve of the Sarajevo
summit [of the Stability Pact?].
Humanitarian Terrorists
The
“High Saudi Committee”, “Al-Haramein” and other Islamic “charities”
operating in B-H are the main source of funding for AIO and “Furqan.”
Most of these organizations are donors and cover for international
terrorists connected to Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden. One example is
“Benevolence International Foundation” (BIF), an organization whose
founder and director, Enam Arnaut, is on trial in the US for direct
links Osama bin Laden. Proof of those links was found in 2003 in B-H,
during a search of the “Bosnian Ideal Future” – the legal successor of
the blacklisted BIF which even kept the same initials. BIF was led by
former AID agent, diplomat and Alije Izetbegovic’s personal chauffeur,
Munib Zahiragic. He is also on trial in Sarajevo, for espionage and
illegal possession of AID documents.
BIF
had offices in Sarajevo and Zenica till the end of 2001, when Arnaut
managed to bail out with about $1 million (of about $5 that was
laundered through the organization), with the help of his
representative Mohammed Anas Talawi. During the war, Arnaut used the
money to organize mujahid’din arrivals, their training in camps around
Zenica and Tešanj, and their eventual transfer to other countries. It
is believed that this channel was used for the escape of Abu Mali, a
close associate of Bin Laden. Arnaut also helped an Al-Qaeda terrorist
Mahmud Salim Mamdouh, a.k.a. Abu Hajr, to escape to Germany. Western
sources indicagte Mamdouh was in charge of procuring uranium for
nuclear weapons. Abu Hajr was arrested in Germany in 1998, and
extradited to the US. Arnaut also collaborated with Muhammad Halifa, a
cousin of Osama bin Laden, as well as Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, leader of
the terrorist group “Hizbi al islami,” which took part in the first
World Trade Center attack in 1993, organized by Sheikh Omar
abd-al-Rahman.
Two
members of the “Algerian Group” also worked at BIF: Budellah Hajj,
a.k.a. Abu Omar, and Mustafa Ait Idir. They were extradited to the US
in January 2003. Hajj had arrived to B-H from Pakistan, and also worked
for the Egyptian charity “Human appeal.” Another BIF “activist” was
Hamami Muwafaq, a Syrian convicted in his homeland of membership in the
terrorist group “Muslim Brotherhood.”
The
“High Saudi Committee” (HSC) may be difficult to shut down, despite the
explicit demands from the US. That organization is under direct
patronage of the Saudi royal family, and her activists use the
previously mentioned diplomatic privileges, including the 24 vehicles
with diplomatic license plates. Furthermore, this is the organization
that has channeled the most money into B-H, as the Saudis did not spare
the expense of establishing a Shari’a state on European soil. In Saudi
Arabia, the Committee is officially run by Naser el Saed. His student,
Elfatih Hassanein, was a personal friend of Izetbegovic and founder of
the banned Third World Relief Agency (TWRA) in Vienna. The Bosnian
Muslim leadership used the TWRA to “import” most of the mujahid’din
into Bosnia and fund their travel and stay. One of the directors of the
HSC Zenica office was Abdul Hadiyu al-Gahtani, who was arrested in 1994
for the abduction of three and murder of one British citizen, employees
of the ODA. Mujahid’din, however, organized Gahtani’s jailbreak and
escape from Bosnia. He was later convicted, in absentia, to 10 years’
imprisonment.
Ahmed
Zuhayr, a.k.a. Handala, is another terrorist who worked for the HSC and
managed to “escape” from the Bosnian Muslim authorities. Thus Sudanese,
who was mentioned previously, is considered responsible for the murder
of UN mission worker William Jefferson in Tuzla.
The
HSC employed two members of the “Algerian Group,” Saber Lahmar and
Mustafa Abdul Kadr. Lahmar was sentenced to five years for assault on
Western aid workers near Zenica, but was pardoned in 1998 by a special
decree signed by the Federation president Ejup Ganic. It is believed
that Lahmar and Kadr, who later worked at the “King Fahd” Islamic
center in Sarajevo and the “Taibah International” foundation, were part
of the terrorist GIA’s European network. In late 2001, a joint
operation of SFOR and local authorities resulted in the arrest of Majed
Karoub, another employee of the HSC, believed to have worked closely
with Lahmar and Kadr.
The
“Global Relief Foundation” (GRF), accused in the US of financing
terrorist activities, was also active in B-H. The GRF in B-H had
relatively modest funds, which did not stop the organization to spend
$100,000 for the camp at Lake Jablanica.
Among
the organizations of interest in the struggle against terrorism are
also the Saudi charity “Igassa,” which smuggled weapons and ammunition
into B-H during the war, as well as “Al-Muwfaq,” whose memberSafiq
Iyadi (of Tunisia) had made a $.5 million transfer to an account at the
SAB Bank in Sarajevo in 1996. Iyadi is on the American blacklist, and
his accounts in the US and UK have been frozen. It is believed the
money was approved by Salem bin Makhfouz, a relative of Osama bin
Laden. Another suspicious organization is the “Charity of the Iranian
People,” which is under control of the VEVAK secret service, and had
helped train Islamic terrorists and militants during the war and
immediately after Dayton.
The
aforementioned organizations are just the tip of the iceberg. The phony
Islamic “charities” in Bosnia-Herzegovina, along with the extremists
and terrorists, have become returning to B-H after the victory of the
SDA in the October 2002 general election.
Other forms of terrorist organization in B-H
NGOs
that have been clearly identified as conduits for terrorism have begun
to reappear in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sometimes they change their names.
Some of the most extremists NGOs are the already mentioned Saudi Relief
Committee, then Global Islamic Relief, International Aid Organization,
Egyptian National Aid, Saudi Islamic Committee and the Islamic
Institute. All of these organizations are known to anti-terrorism
experts.
An additional issue is with the orphans taken to Al-Qaeda’s terrorist camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina.There
are videotapeps, testimonies and documentary evidence of this. One
example is the case of Ahmed Zuharir, a.k.a. Handala, whose main
contacts in B-H are Omer Stambolic of the Federal police and Haris
Silajdzic. This terrorist had the official ID card of the organization
called “Charitable Community for Orphans,” but who was he? Zuharir, a
Sudanese, is a member of the terrorist group “Gaama’a al Islamyya,” and
a former member of the “El Mujahid” unit of the “Bosnian Army.” He was
convicted in absentia by the B-H Federation authorities for a car
bombing in western Mostar in September 1997. Other participants in this
terrorist attack were Ali Ahmadom al-Hamadom, a.k.a. Ubayda, of
Bahrein; naturalized B-H citizen Saleh Negil Ali El-Hil, a.k.a. Abu
Yemen; Abdullah ba’Awr, a.k.a. Husayfa; and Kal-al-Sheif, a.k.a.
Suleyman.All are suspected associates of Osama bin Laden. Handala was
never caught, because the Bosnian Muslim authorities connections to the
global Islamic terror network. So, the Bosnian Muslim authorities –
headed by the late Alija Izetbegovic – entrusted this notorious
terrorist with the care of war orphans. Another issue altogether are
mujahid’din wives, trained for years in various terrorist camps.
Citizens
of Bosnia-Herzegovina need help, because they cannot fight against this
pestilence alone. One should be careful to differentiate the extremists
from the Muslim population in general; one of the extremists’ goals is
to foment conflict between all Muslims and modern civilization.
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