SRBICA, Serbia-Three students were suspended from school in Kosovo this week for wearing Muslim headscarves, reflecting a debate that is echoing across Europe and complicating the province's quest for independence. The argument over whether secular society should trump religious rights is similar to those taking place in France, Turkey, Britain and elsewhere. But some in the breakaway Serb province fear its bid for statehood could suffer if Kosovo is perceived as overly Islamic. "Not only does religion damage the quest for independence, it damages our entire concept," said Rexhep Ismajli, the head of Kosovo's Academy of Science, a body that includes the province's leading thinkers. "It damages Kosovo's society, it damages our vision."
Fatmire Jashari, 18, was suspended from her high school in the central Kosovar town of Srbica, a former stronghold of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, the guerrilla group that fought Serb forces in the 1998-1999 war. "I hope I won't be pushed to choose between the two," she said. "But if I am, I will choose the headscarf." Another girl in Fatmire's school and a student in a different school were also suspended this week.
Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians are mostly Muslim, although they are largely secular. The province's governmental institutions, which are supervised by a United Nations administration, are careful not to associate themselves with Islam, fearing that a strong Muslim identity could harm the province's quest for independence from Serbia, a predominantly Orthodox Christian country.
Some countries in Europe remain hesitant to accede to the ethnic Albanian majority's demands for independence, and analysts in Kosovo have raised concerns that this skepticism is due in part to Kosovo's Islamic heritage.
Western intelligence reports have suggested that Muslim-dominated regions in Bosnia and Kosovo could be recruitment grounds for the so-called "white al-Qaida", Muslims with Western features who could blend into European or U.S. cities and execute terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, the debate over what kind of country Kosovo will be, if it becomes a country, continues. "It was easy to proclaim adherence to the democratic principles of the West in during the repression of the Serb regime," said Dukagjin Gorani, an ethnic Albanian commentator. "But when the West actually came to Kosovo, people started going to mosques. This will not necessarily make Kosovo a religious state, but it will certainly start a heated debate on what it should be."
Washington - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested six more suspects of Pakistani origin from Maryland on charges of money laundering. On Thursday, 11 suspects were arrested in Maryland, including nine illegal immigrants from Pakistan. On the same day, US federal officials had indicted 39 people, including some Pakistani operators of convenience stores in Eastern Shore communities, the Dawn reported. Saifullah Ranjha, one of the defendants, was also charged with attempting to finance the al Qaeda.
Commenting on the arrests, Pakistan's Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani said that he did not know the details of this particular case, but similar cases in the past has shown that "American officials were often too zealous." Durrani further said that in many cases either the charges brought against the suspects were difficult to prove or the suspects were released or offered plea bargains.
Meanwhile, Spanish officials said on that acting on tips received from the FBI, they had arrested two Pakistanis from Madrid and Barcelona. According to police, Anar Muhammad Shan and Mehmood Sandhu, who are members of a terror group, have allegedly collaborated with their accomplices in the US to transfer money to alleged al Qaeda men in Pakistan. The FBI, however, has claimed that no such money transaction took place.
These arrests have stunned Pakistani-Americans, as they fear that it would further strengthen the negative stereotyping of their community in this country. "People are scared. It will have a very negative impact on the entire community," said Munir Ahmad, a member of the Maryland Muslim Council. "People say that they were licensed money dealers and apparently law-abiding citizens. We don't know what happened," Munir Ahmad added.
Pakistani-Americans are so sacred that even during Ramzan, they are not giving money charities to mosques, Irfan Malik, of the National Association of Pakistani-Americans who also lives in Maryland, said. "There are many people who must have gone to the stores and gas stations run by the suspects. Now they fear that the FBI may knock at their doors," Malik said. After 9/11, in some people were arrested "just for standing near a suspect," he added.
According to reports, 45 suspects have been arrested so far in this sting operation in North America and Europe. "Federal prosecutors are seeking $5.1 million in criminal forfeitures and ownership interest in two convenience stores located in Snow Hill, which belonged to a Pakistani," the daily reported.
Federal prosecutors have identified one suspect as Mohammed Ahsan, a 49-year old Pakistani-American who lives in a Washington suburb Laurel. As per the US officials, Ahsan was involved in laundering 520,000 dollars through his home in 2005 and 2006, believing he was helping drug dealers move their illicit money out of the United States.