Posted on 03/17/2003 8:59:34 AM PST by Voronin
MM Focus: Atrocities in Bosnia changed military man’s view of life
HE was a decorated soldier in his nearly 20 years in the Malaysian Armed Forces, having won three merit awards from Britain’s acclaimed Sandhurst Military Academy.
But Lt-Kol Abdul Manaf Kamsuri’s nine-month stint in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a member of the United Nations Protection Force (Unprofor) between 1993 and 1994, apparently changed his entire perspective of life.
As a Unprofor senior liaison officer, serving under Lt-General Francis Briquemont and Lt-General Sir Michael Rose, he witnessed atrocities – Bosnian Muslims being tortured and killed, and the gang rape of women and teenage girls.
Based on The Malay Mail investigations into the 48-year-old solider’s life, his memoirs published in Berita Minggu on Aug 13, 1995, and interviews with intelligence authorities concluded that the war crimes he witnessed, transformed his perspective as a Muslim and military man.
Abdul Manaf had served with 181 members of the Malaysian Third Royal Armoured Regiment as peacekeepers in Bihac - the largest Muslim enclave in Bosnia.
A source said his perspective of life changed when he befriended militant groups there.
“He met members of Odred El-Mujahideen, Black Swan, Muddaris, Zavodavici Mujahideen, Muslim Briged, Travnik Mujahideen dan Abu Zubair Group. Later, he even met members of the al-Qaeda.”
At the height of the Bosnian war, between 500 and 1,000 Malaysian mercenaries (which the Malaysian Government has since denied) were said to have been involved in the 7th Muslim brigade. The brigade comprised private soldiers and militants from Afghanistan and other countries.
The source said intelligence reports indicated Abdul Manaf was in touch with some of the Malaysian mercenaries and knew them during his stay in Bosnia from late 1993 to 1994.
The respected and high-flying officer was secretly involved in militant activities as a peacekeeper.
“Subsequently, his clandestine activities were uncovered by his superiors,” said a source.
Military intelligence said when he returned to Malaysia, several months after the mission, he was cautioned and told to resign from the force.
Abdul Manaf did as ordered, in late 1994. But it did not deter him from pursuing militant activities. He returned to Bosnia, several months later.
A source said Abdul Manaf managed to obtain funds through his contacts while in Bosnia, to travel back there as a relief and social worker in Zenica, 45km north of Sarajevo.
“He re-established his links with militants, including members of the al-Qaeda,” said the source.
“However, we were unaware of what he did there or whom he met.”
Abdul Manaf stayed in Bosnia for several months and returned to Malaysia, sometime in July 1995.
Following his return, he worked for a factory which produced artificial limbs in Ipoh.
“But he did not work for long there,” said the source.
“He continued to work elsewhere and maintained close contacts with members of the militant groups he had established in Bosnia.”
The links took Abdul Manaf regularly to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The source said in some of his trips there, Abdul Manaf was said to have met al-Qaeda members.
“Through the al-Qaeda network, he was also linked to the local Jemaah Islamyiah (JI), a pan-Islamic movement which planned to turn the South-east Asian nations into an Islamic State,” said the source.
“He forged ties with people like Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana and Zulkepli Marzuki, and they subsequently, set up a company called Excelsetia Sdn Bhd.”
All three were directors of the company.
The source said police believed he had met and known top local JI leaders such as Wan Min Wan Mat, Dr Azahari Husin and Nor Din Mohd Top. He was also said to have met Asia’s most wanted terrorist Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali (picture), and Mukhlas, one of the suspects in the Bali bombing last October.
“There were also intelligence reports of his meetings with some of the al-Qaeda operatives, which Faiz hosted when they passed through Malaysia,” said the source.
But the source added that intelligence authorities were unclear how he worked with them, or his capacity as a close assocaite to Faiz.
Although Abdul Manaf owned Excelsetia, he also worked as a human resource manager with the Islamic Youth Co-operative.
The source said: “Currently, Abdul Manaf is another big fish in the JI network who may have the insight into how the clandestine group had operated for years without alarming the local intelligence community, until after the Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malaysia (KMM) members were nabbed in an ISA swoop in mid-2001.”
Although his partner Faiz was picked up in late December 2001, and another, Zulkepli, the JI secretary is on the run, Abdul Manaf’s involvement was not established until recently as he maintained a low profile.
VRN
VRN
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