Posted on 01/17/2002 7:41:33 PM PST by Pericles
Thursday January 17 10:13 PM ET
Bosnia Orders Terror Suspects Freed
By ALEXANDAR S. DRAGICEVIC, Associated Press Writer
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnia's highest court ordered the release Thursday of six Algerians suspected of having terrorist links. U.S. officials were expected to take them into custody.
The suspects will be delivered to U.S. custody one by one, said a U.S. defense official in Washington, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official added that the precise timing of the handovers hasn't been determined.
The Supreme Court of the Muslim-Croat Bosnian federation ruled that there was not enough evidence to detain the men, who were rounded up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Hours after the court's late night order, crowds formed outside the holding facility in Sarajevo, with 300 family members, friends and other supporters of the six expressing concern over rumors the men were going to be extradited.
Police attempted to move the men from the facility, but were turned back by the crowd.
The men were suspected of involvement either with the Armed Islamic Group, an Algerian terrorist organization, or with the Egyptian terrorist organization al-Gamaa al-Islamiya. One of the men had a relative working in the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital.
One of the men, Bensayah Belkacem, was arrested on the basis of foreign intelligence reports that he allegedly made telephone calls to an aide of Osama bin Laden, held responsible by Washington for the suicide attacks on the United States.
The others were arrested after British and U.S. officials in Bosnia briefly closed their embassies here, citing credible security threats.
Most of the men worked for various Islamic humanitarian agencies in Bosnia.
More than 1 million Muslims live in Bosnia, but most are secular or religious moderates.
Keep your hands and eyes down and where they can be seen and don't yell out the position for a sniper to zero in on.
Urban combat is not pretty.
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