Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina
| Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | 1992–present |
| Ideology | Jihadism |
| Notable attacks | Mostar car bombing (1997) |
| Status | active |
| Size | unknown |
| Means of revenue | Saudi High Commission (1993–2001) |
Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina was present since the Bosnian War in 1992, where they organised a volunteer jihadist detachment El Mudžahid of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were operating through the Saudi High Commission (SHC), and carried out the terrorist attack in Mostar in 1997.
History
During the Bosnian War, al-Qaeda gained a huge boost, both in the terms of organisation and recruitment, and helped radicalisation of European Muslims. Volunteer mujahideen arrived from all around the world, including France, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yemen.[1] After the war, al-Qaeda reestablished its connections in Bosnia and Herzegovina through Saudi High Commission (SHC) and its charity organisation.[2] The SHC was founded in 1993 by Saudi prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz. The organisation was closely tied and financed by the Saudi government, for which reason an American judge declared it immune after the September 11 attacks in 2001, concluding that it's a body of the Saudi government.
During the Bosnian War, a British worker Paul Goodall was killed in Bosnia and Herzegovina with several bullets in his back. An employer of the SHC, Abdul Hadi al-Gatani was arrested for murder, after which he admitted that gun used in the killing was his. However, Bosnian-Herzegovinian authorities released him without trial. Al-Gatani was later killed fighting along with al-Qaeda and the Talibans in Afghanistan.[3]
The next year, after the war ended, the Ministry of Finance of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted a raid in offices of the SHC and found documents that pointed out that the SHC was "clearly a front of radicals and terrorist related activities".[4] The sam year, an employer of the USAid William Jefferson was killed. One of the suspects was Ahmed Zuhair Handala, linked to the SHC. But he was released as well, even though there was an evidence that he murdered civilians during the war.[5]
In 1996, the National Security Agency (NSA) found out through wiretapping devices that prince Salaman financed Islamist militants through charity organisations. A report of the CIA from the same year said that "the CIA has evidence that even high officials of charity organizations and supervisory boards in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan, such those of the Saudi High Commission, are participating in illicit activities, including support of terrorists."
Ronald Jacquard claims that majority of the SHC officials supported Osama bin Laden. Even though it participated in legitimate charity, the SHC used its charity character for sending illegal merchandise, drugs and weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In May 1997, in a French military report it is written that "the Saudi High Commission, under cover of the humanitarian aid, is helping a development of permanent islamisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina influencing the country's youth. A successful end of this plan would give Islamic fundamentalism a perfect position in Europe and gave cover to members of the Bin Laden's organisation".[6]
A terrorist attack occurred in Mostar in 1997, and the executor was Handala and his two associates, also linked with the SHC. They managed to escape, but Handala was arrested after the September 11 attacks and detained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[7] The same year, an employer of the SHC, Saber Lahman, was arrested under suspicion that he planned to carry out an attack on the USA Embassy in Sarajevo. He was convicted, but was pardoned later after he served two thirds of punishment in prison. He was arrested again in 2002 for participation in al Qaeda's plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina and was sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
However, the USA took nothing until the September 11 attacks happened, when they carried out a raid on offices of the SHC in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They found incriminating documents, including manuals on how to forge the United States Secretary of State office ID cards, as well as manuscripts and notes on meetings with Bin Laden. They also found a proof about planned attack by an agricultural aircraft.[8] Even after this, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian authorities refused to close the SHC offices.
In October 2001, Bosnian-Herzegovinian police arrested several Bosnian citizens of Algerian origin on charges of plotting to fly small aircraft from Visoko and crash them into SFOR bases in Tuzla and Bratunac.[9]
In 2005, the plot to bomb the funeral of Pope John Paul II was discovered in Croatia. The plot originated from Gornja Maoča, a Wahhabist village in northern Bosnia, and included smuggling rocket launchers, explosives and detonators to Italy.[9] The same year, Bosnian-Herzegovinian police raided an apartment connected to a group seeking to blow up the British Embassy in Sarajevo, seizing explosives, rifles, other arms, and a video pledging vengeance for jihadists killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Amongst the arrested was a Swedish citizen of Bosnian Muslim origin, who ran a website on behalf of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaeda in Iraq.[10]
The next year, in 2006, a group of Bosnians and Macedonians linked to al-Qaida was arrested in northern Italy, after smuggling 1,800 guns in that country from Istanbul.[10]
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ Lebl 2014, p. 8.
- ↑ Jacquard 2002, p. 69.
- ↑ Schindler 2007, p. 143-144.
- ↑ Bur & Collins 2006, p. 145.
- ↑ Schindler 2007, p. 263-264.
- ↑ Jacquard 2002, p. 67-71.
- ↑ Schindler 2007, p. 266.
- ↑ Schindler 2007, p. 129, 184.
- 1 2 Lebl 2014, p. 9.
- 1 2 Lebl 2014, p. 10.
Books
- Burn, J. Millard; Collins, Robert O. (2006). Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521673952.
- Jacquard, Ronald (2002). In the Name of Osama Bin Laden: Global Terrorism and the Bin Laden Brotherhood. Collingdale, Pennsylvania: Diane Pub Co. ISBN 9780756767112.
- Lebl, Leslie S. (2014). Islamism and Security in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Strategic Studies Institute. ISBN 1584876220.
- Schindler, John R. (2007). Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad. New York City: Zenith Press. ISBN 9780760330036.