Posted on 06/05/2002 10:56:20 PM PDT by Spar
Head of Islamic Community urges government to curtail efforts against Muslim charities
Wed Jun 5,11:26 AM ET
By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - The head of Bosnia's Islamic community urged his government Wednesday to curtail its efforts to investigate Muslim aid groups while trying to assist in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Mustafa Ceric appealed to authorities to pay more attention to crimes committed against Muslim refugees trying to return home after the 3 1/2 year war — instead of conducting high-profile raids against the charities.
"Islamic humanitarian organizations are raided and investigated not because they have done something wrong but because of suspicion they might think of doing something wrong," he said.
But he charged that when there are attacks against Muslim returnees, they are regarded as isolated "incidents" and the perpetrators are never found.
Police in Bosnia have investigated dozens of Islamic charities on suspicion that their employees helped al-Qaeda in planning terrorist attacks. So far eight groups have been raided.
One raid in March against Benevolence International Foundation led the FBI (news - web sites) to arrest the head of a Chicago-area charity for allegedly lying about ties to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). Other employees arrested in separate raids early this year have been sent to the U.S. prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Though Bosnia's Muslim community is largely secular, Ceric is seen as having vast moral authority.
His comments mark the first time a Muslim religious leader has protested against the government's actions, raising the prospect that a backlash against the raids could be building in the Balkan country of 4 million.
The raids are sensitive in part because Islamic nations swept in to help Bosnia's Muslims fight Serbs and Croats during the 1992-1995 war. The charities that remained have been visible — and have stayed in the country to offer support even though other aid groups pulled out.
The raids are also sensitive because the verdict of Bosnia's courts were ignored in the first high-profile arrests in January. The United States pressured Bosnian officials to turn over six terrorism suspects, ignoring a verdict by Bosnia's highest court and the country's top human rights panel.
Both had ordered their release of the men, saying the government lacked evidence that they were plotting post-Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. facilities in Bosnia.
(acr/djk)
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