TUNISIAN DEPORTATION: BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES OVERCOME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 002042 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2016 TAGS: PTER KHLS SMIG PREL PGOV XI TU BK SUBJECT: TUNISIAN DEPORTATION: BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES OVERCOME SETBACKS REF: A. SARAJEVO 1748 B. SARAJEVO 334 Classified By: Classified by: CDA Judith B. Cefkin for reasons 1.5. (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On August 30, Bosnian authorities executed their second successful removal of a foreign national deemed to be a security risk. The operation was carried out in full accordance with domestic and international laws, and required virtually no USG hand-holding. During the operation, many Bosnian law enforcement agencies demonstrated a significantly improved degree of cooperation, in contrast to the disorganization that characterized the deportation of convicted terrorist Said Atmani in February (ref. B). The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA),citing lack of resources, had minimal participation in the operation. End summary. ¶2. (C) In spring 2006 the BiH Ministry of Security (MoS) determined that Tunisian national Bedrudin Ferchicij (aka Abu Malik),a mudjaheddin fighter who remained in Bosnia after the 1992-95 war (ref. A),was illegally residing in Bosnia, and issued an Order of Removal. Ferchicij, although married to a Bosnian, is not a BiH citizen. After Ferchicij exhausted his administrative and judicial appeals, the MoS instructed the Foreigners Affairs Service (FAS) local office in Zenica to execute the Order on August 22. Zavidovic municipal police served Ferchicij with an arrest warrant and took him into custody. Local authorities transferred Ferchicij to State Border Service (SBS) custody in Sarajevo. ¶3. (C) Ferchicij initially left Bosnia, escorted by SBS officers, via a commercial Air Bosna flight to Istanbul on August 23, where he should have boarded a connecting flight to Tunis. Although the Tunisian government agreed to accept him, Ferchicij's disruptive behavior in Istanbul caused the Tunisair pilot to refuse to board him. SIPA officers replaced SBS officers at Istanbul airport while local authorities tried to resolve the situation. Ultimately, the SIPA officers escorted Ferchicij back to Sarajevo International Airport. After receiving preclearance for Ferchicij's admission from the GOT, Ferchicij boarded a MoS-charted direct flight to Tunis on August 30, escorted by SBS officers. The charter flight departed Sarajevo at 2000 hours and arrived in Tunis at approximately 0015 hours. ¶4. (C) Comment: The Ferchicij deportation demonstrates improvements in operational capabilities that certain Bosnian agencies have achieved over the past six months. The SBS, MoS and the new FAS are making progress in developing proactive and collaborative capabilities. Notably, the organizations neither asked for nor received USG assistance during the Bosnian portion of the operation. In contrast, cooperation from SIPA, ostensibly Bosnia's premier counterterrorism agency, was disappointing and will be the subject of future conversations we will have with this organization. End comment. CEFKIN