BANJA LUKA, June 5 (FENA) – RS Police Director Dragomir Andan expressed regret with the possibility that his statements concerning activities of Islamic groups in BiH have caused apprehension among BiH and RS citizens. He especially expressed regret with any possible damage that his comments on connections between BiH and the terrorist attacks in Madrid could have created.
Andan delivered a letter to EUPM Commissioner Kevin Carty concerning the investigation and correspondence with the EUPM Commissioner and High Representative Paddy Ashdown regarding comments on the presence of Islamic groups in BiH made at a press conference on May 10 2005.
“I wish to use this opportunity to explain those comments as a presentation of intelligence and operational information, which as such have not been corroborated, and therefore cannot be accepted as ‘firm evidence’, as was mentioned in the High Representative’s letter”, Andan said.
He said that “rushing with the presentation of operational information is not useful, from a professional standpoint, and in that context can be viewed as wrong and politically motivated, as suggested in Carty’s report to the High Representative, which I accept in general”.
“Naturally, I need to underline that my statements were not politically motivated and in that context I wish to retract my comment, but at the same time I accept the possibility that such a comment could be interpreted as police interference in political matters, that it is inappropriate for the Police Director to make such allegations, attuned to the political moment and requirements and so forth”, was stated in the letter.
Also in the letter the RS Police Director underlined his absolute personal commitment to professional conduct and common work on security issues.
“A high degree of sensitivity in the preventive work, intelligence and operational activities must be a top priority of all security agencies, including the RS Police, both in relation to the broad global movement in the fight against terrorism and in relation to the legal, professional, but also the moral commitment of protecting citizens, the society and institutions in the RS and BiH from this global scourge”, Andan said.
Andan said that such an approach of the RS police and the Police Director would be imperative in accordance with professional standards of police work, which will be given special attention in public comments in order to avoid the repeat of such problems in the future.
EUPM: COMMISSIONER CARTY PLEASED WITH ANDAN'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT
SARAJEVO, June 7 (FENA) - The European Union Police Mission (EUPM) Commissioner Kevin Carty received the letter from Dragomir Andan, RS Police Director, dated 4 June 2005. After having carefully looked at Mr. Andan’s letter, Commissioner Carty is pleased to note that Director Andan finally acknowledged that he had no intelligence or evidence to support the claims he made on 10 May 2005, in reference to the Madrid terrorist bombing, EUPM spokesperson Zinaida Ilaria told a press conference in Sarajevo on Tuesday.
“Furthermore, the Commissioner finds it satisfying that Mr. Andan publicly recognized that his statement was unprofessional and misleading”, Ilaria said.