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Revision as of 21:49, 3 December 2007 by Osli73 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Bosnian Mujahideen (also referred to as El Mujaheed) is the term often used for the Muslim volunteers to fight on the Bosnian government side during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. It is estimated that the number of volunteers numbered about 4,000 with the majority coming from countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. In addition to the Mujahideen volunteers, there were also several hundred Iranian Revolutionary Guards supporting the Bosnian government during the war. Many of the Bosnian Mujahideen were supported financially from Saudi Arabia
Role during the Bosnian War 1992-1995
Izetbegovic was president of Bosnia-Hercegovina from 1990 onwards. When the civil war began in 1992, he invited Mujahideen fighters to the region, incorporating them into the Bosnian amy. They formed the majority of the 7th Muslim Brigade when it was founded on November 19, 1992, and in August 13, 1993 foreign Mujahideen formed the "El Mujahed" Unit. According to testimony and evidence presented at the ICTY trial of Bosnian government General Rasim Delic the Bosnian Mujahideen operated under the control of the Bosnian army though with their own commanders. Former US Balkans peace negotiator Richard Holbrook said in an interview that "I think the Muslims wouldn't have survived without this" help. At the time a U.N. arms embargo diminished the Bosnian government's fighting capabilities. Holbrooke called the arrival of the moujahedeen "a pact with the devil" from which Bosnia still is recovering.
At the ICTY trial of the former Bosnian government general Rasim Delic witnesses for the ICTY have described how Bosnian mujahideen fighters, under Bosnian government army control, committed war crimes against captured Bosnian Serb soldiers and civilians. According to the indictment, on 21 June 1995, two soldiers from the Bosnian Serb forces (VRS) were captured and subsequently beheaded by members of the Bosnian army and Mujahideen fighers. Other soldiers, taken prisoner on the same day, were said to have been severely beaten over several days and then taken to the Kamenica camp. A third soldier was reported to have been decapitated there on 24 July 1995. The other prisoners were said to have been given the order to kiss the head, which was then put on display in the room where they were being held. The prisoners in the Kamenica camp were reportedly beaten and tortured, on occasion by means of electroshocks. According to the indictment, on 11 September 1995, around 60 soldiers from the VRS were taken prisoner by the Bosnian army, at the same time as several civilians amongst which were three women. This group was transferred to the camp in Kamenica. The 60 soldiers taken prisoner disappeared thereafter and are presumed to be dead. As for the three women the indictment states that they were subjected to acts of violence, in particular to rape. They were released on 15 November 1995. Another group of 10 soldiers from the VRS was also taken to the Kamenica camp on 10 September 1995. They were all subjected to cruel treatment during a period of about 12 days.
According to the indictment, Rasim Delic was aware that the Mujahideen members of the Bosnian army had a distinct tendency to commit crimes especially against captured enemy combatants and civilians and that the Kamenica camp was being used as a place in which these crimes could be perpetrated. Reportedly, however, he took no measures whatsoever to stop these acts taking place.
After the war
The foreign moujahedeen units were disbanded and required to leave the Balkans under the terms of the 1995 Dayton peace accord. But many stayed - about 400, according to official Bosnian government estimates. Although the US State Department report suggested that the number could be higher, a senior SFOR official said allied military intelligence estimated that no more than 200 foreign-born militants actually live in Bosnia, of which closer to 30 represent a hard-core group with direct links to terrorism.
A sizeable number were granted citizenship by Izetbegovic in exchange for their fighting in the Bosnian civil war. In September, 50 of these individuals had their citizenship status revoked. SInce then 100 more individuals have been prevented from claiming citizenship rights. 250 more were under investigation, while the body which is charged to reconsider the citizenship status of these former Mujahideen states that 1,500 cases will eventually be examined.<
Links to Al Qaeda and the CIA
Following the end of the Bosnian War and, especially, after the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center, the links between the Bosnian Mujahideen, Al Qaeda and, as alleged by some, the CIA have beceom more apparent. In an interview with american journalist Jim Leherer former US peace envoy to Bosnia Richard Holbroke states:
There were over 1,000 people in the country who belonged to what we then called Mujahideen freedom fighters. We now know that that was al-Qaida. I'd never heard the word before, but we knew who they were. And if you look at the 9/11 hijackers, several of those hijackers were trained or fought in Bosnia. We cleaned them out, and they had to move much further east into Afghanistan. So if it hadn't been for Dayton, we would have been fighting the terrorists deep in the ravines and caves of Central Bosnia in the heart of Europe.
In 1996, in a book titled "Offensive In the Balkans", Mr. Yossef Bodansky, Director of the Republican TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE of the US House of Representatives, wrote as follows on the "Bosnian Jehad":
"...The build-up of new Islamist units was completed in Bosnia- Herzegovina in the Spring of 1995. These forces are closely associated with the Armed Islamist Movement (AIM) and Islamist international terrorism, and include the first organized deployment of MARTYRDOM FORCES (THAT IS, SUICIDE TERRORISTS), both veteran Arabs and newly trained Bosnians.
London's The Spectator has noted, "If Western intervention in Afghanistan created the mujahedin, Western intervention in Bosnia appears to have globalised it." Several current and former top al-Qaeda militants and financers reportedly participated in the Bosnian civil war with the full support of the United States. It was, after all, for the Bosnian jihad that the 9/11 'paymaster', Omar Sheikh, was reportedly recruited to fight by the CIA and MI6.
Al-Qadi, in addition to his reported financing of the Bosnian jihad, has been identified as one of Osama bin Laden's "chief money launderers".
External links
- The Economist, Balkan extremists, 12 July 2007
- Gulf Daily News, Bahraini key witness in Hague atrocity trial, 7 September 2007
- Reuters, Muslim fighter begins testimony in Bosnia trial, 7 September 2007
- The American Conservative, The Bosnian Connection, The civil war that inspired both liberal hawks and Islamist jihadis, by Brendan O’Neill
- Youtube video of Bosnian General Rasim Delic delivering his farewell speech to the El Mujaheed
- SENSE Agency, Survivor from Kamenica Camp testifies at Rasim Delic trial, 3 October 2007
- Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), CTY: BiH Army Knew About Mujahedin Crimes, 8 September 2007
- Trial, profile of Rasim Delic, former Chief of Staff of the Army of Bosnian Muslims responsible for the Bosnian Mujahideen
- ICTY indictment against Rasim Delic
References
- ,LA Times, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001
- United States Institute of Peace, Dayton Implementation: The Train and Equip Program, September 1997 | Special Report No. 25
- .Free Republic, Al Qaeda Recruited U.S. Servicemen: Testimony Links Plot To Saudi Gov't, 2004
- Spero News, Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders, Adrian Morgan, 13 November 2006
- Reuters, Muslim fighter begins testimony in Bosnia trial, 7 September 2007
- Reuters, Tape suggests Bosnian general lied about mujahideen, 14 September 2007
- ,LA Times, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001
- Trial Watch: Rasim Delic
- Trial Watch: Rasim Delic
- Trial Watch: Rasim Delic
- LA Times, Bosnia Seen as Hospitable Base and Sanctuary for Terrorists, 8 October 2001
- BBC, Mujahideen fight Bosnia evictions, 18 July 2000
- Spero News, Bosnia: Muslims upset by Wahhabi leaders, Adrian Morgan, 13 November 2006
- PBS Newshour with Jim Jim Leherer, A New Constitution for Bosnia, 22 November 2005
- South Asia Analysis Group, Bosnia & Hyderabad, by B.Raman, 3 September 2001
- The American Monitor, Scratching the Surface, by Devlin Buckley, 16 November 2006
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