Posted on 09/25/2006 11:15:47 AM PDT by TexKat
SARAJEVO -- At least three Bosnian citizens are on the UN list of individuals aiding the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Dragan Lukac, assistant director of the Bosnian state security agency, said in an interview with the daily Nezavisne Novine that three Tunisians, who are on the UN terrorist list, were granted Bosnian citizenship after the country's 1992-1995 civil war.
"It's difficult to say where they are at the moment, but we can say with great certainty that they are not in Bosnia and don't use Bosnian passports," Lukac said.
He named the three Tunisians as Mahrez ben Mahmud ben Sashi al Amandani, Shafik ben Mohamed al Ajadi and Halil ben Ahmed ben Mohamed Jaraja. He said they were issued Bosnian passports in the last decade and their last reported addresses were in Sarajevo, but have in the meantime disappeared without a trace.
Thousands of mujahadeen from Islamic countries fought on the side of local Muslims in the Bosnian war, but many remained in the country afterwards and took Bosnian citizenship. A special state commission is currently scrutinizing some 1,500 citizenships granted to foreigners, and 50 citizenships have been revoked so far.
Lukac said the ongoing "process of revising all citizenships granted in the period between April 6, 1992 and January 2006, will give precise answers on how many people linked to terrorist organizations have Bosnian citizenship".
He said it was normal that someone "comes to Bosnia in 1994, gets the citizenship and then leaves the country without anyone knowing where he is, or what he does". The paper also quoted Bosnian police director, Zlatko Mimetic, as saying that the authorities were not prepared to speak about terrorism openly.
Citing several cases in Bosnia of attempted terrorist activities, Miletiæ said that there have been "such attempts". Last October the police arrested three local youths, with links abroad, plotting to bomb the embassy of a European country in Sarajevo.
Miletiæ said that several terrorist attacks were prevented by chance, but that "Bosnian officials and the whole community should ponder the causes of such behavior".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.