BOSNIA: 2006 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 003249 SIPDIS SIPDIS S/CT (SHORE); NCTC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KPAO KHLS AEMR PREL PGOV BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: 2006 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM REF: A. A. STATE 175925 ¶B. SARAJEVO 3192 ¶C. SARAJEVO 3151 ¶D. SARAJEVO 3115 ¶E. SARAJEVO 2744 ¶F. SARAJEVO 2575 ¶G. SARAJEVO 2452 ¶H. SARAJEVO 2072 ¶I. SARAJEVO 2042 ¶J. SARAJEVO 1915 ¶K. SARAJEVO 1748 ¶L. SARAJEVO 1695 ¶M. SARAJEVO 1664 ¶N. SARAJEVO 1340 ¶O. SARAJEVO 890 ¶P. SARAJEVO 732 ¶Q. SARAJEVO 334 ¶R. SARAJEVO 119 ¶1. This cable contains Embassy Sarajevo's submission to the 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism, as requested in Ref. A ¶2. Bosnia and Herzegovina's law enforcement organizations continued their good counterterrorism cooperation with the United States, within the limits of current institutional capacities. However, Bosnia remained a weak state, with multiple semi-autonomous centers of power, vulnerable to exploitation as a terrorist safe haven or as a staging ground for potential terrorist operations in Europe. Nevertheless, there were notable signs of increased local operational capability to combat terrorism and terrorism finance. ¶3. Media reporting and editorial comment concerning U.S. counterterrorism policies became increasingly negative during the year, particularly regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees, including the so-called "Algerian Six." Criticism of Bosnian government counterterrorism initiatives and U.S. counterterrorism policies from Bosnian politicians and local activists increased, particularly during the 2006 national election campaign. (Ref. F, H, K, L, O, and R.) ¶4. Bosnian authorities continued to strengthen existing counterterrorism mechanisms and develop new ones. On July 24, the Council of Ministers adopted a general framework for creating a national counterterrorism strategy, and approved formation of an interagency working group, led by the Ministry of Security, to develop it. The Inter-Ministerial Counterterrorism Task Force (IMCTF),formed in December 2004, is currently responsible for coordinating all State-level institutions with counterterrorism responsibilities. These are: the State Border Police (SBP),the State Investigative and Protection Agency (SIPA),the Ministry of Security (MoS), the State Court and State Prosecutor's Office, the Foreigners �0A;Affairs Service (FAS),and the Bosnian State Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA). ¶5. The IMCTF directed two successful terrorism-related deportations during the year. On February 8, SIPA, SBP, FAS and the State Prosecutor worked together to remove convicted terrorist Said Atmani from the country. Atmani, a Moroccan national who fought in Bosnia during the war, served three years in jail for a bombing in France in the mid-1990s, before returning to Bosnia in 2005 (Ref. Q). On August 30, these agencies deported Tunisian national Bedrudin Ferchicij (a.k.a. Abu Malik),a Mujahedin fighter who had remained illegally in Bosnia after the war (Ref. I). Despite these successes, the IMCTF's operational effectiveness was generally hampered by insufficient coordination, including infrequent communications and lack of clear divisions of labor among the agencies. ¶6. In January 2006, the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina formed the Citizenship Review Commission (CRC). The CRC reviews the status of foreign Mujahedin fighters and others who obtained Bosnian citizenship during and after the 1992-95 war, and withdraws citizenship from those who had obtained it improperly. In OCTOBER the Council of Ministers adopted the Commission's interim progress report. According to the report, the CRC has completed preliminary reviews of approximately 600 cases (about half the total number pending),adjudicated 150 decisions, and stripped about 50 individuals of their citizenship. Among those stripped were three men identified by the UNSC 1267 Committee as belonging to or associated with the Taliban and al-Qaida (Ref. H and K.). ¶7. The FAS has responsibility for determining the appropriate legal status of people stripped of citizenship and initiating deportations when mandated under the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum. Although created in August 2005, vacant leadership positions stalled FAS institutional development until summer 2006. The process of drafting a revised Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens that would define and strengthen the FAS, which also began in 2005, remained unfinished at the end of 2006. ¶8. The Bosnian State Court heard opening arguments in the first state-level terrorism trial in July. The trial remains underway with three individuals, arrested in OCTOBER 2005, charged with terrorism, and two others with illegal possession of explosives. During the arrests, authorities confiscated weapons, explosives, a crudely fashioned suicide belt and a video depicting masked men supposedly preparing to attack unspecified European targets. Lead defendants Mirsad Bektasevic and Abdulkadir Cesur were linked to terrorist networks elsewhere in Europe, and Cesur was also a named defendant in a terrorism trial concurrently underway in Denmark. The Bosnian Court expects to render a decision in early 2007. (Ref. G and P.) ¶9. The government remained vigilant against the reopening of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) previously banned for terrorism finance activity. Bosnian officials continued working closely with the United States to obtain information to build cases for new NGO designations (Ref. J and N). Authorities also continued investigating organizations, businesses, and individuals for links to terrorist financing (Ref. B). During the reporting period, there was no evidence of systematic linkages between organized crime groups and terrorist organizations (Ref. E and M). There were no terrorist-financing related prosecutions under the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering during the year. ¶10. The Bosnian organization Aktivna Islamska Omladina (Active Islamic Youth, or AIO) continued to spread extremist and anti-American rhetoric through its weekly print and on-line publication, SAFF Magazine. AIO was founded in Zenica in 1995 by individuals with ties to the so-called "El Mujahid brigade," a wartime unit comprised mainly of foreign jihadists. There were indications that AIO continued to conduct youth outreach in Bosnia during the year, and to maintain a presence in Western Europe. SAFF Magazine was also distributed through out the Balkans and in some Western European countries. ¶11. Law enforcement at all levels cooperated with Mission security personnel on terrorism-related and other threats directed against U.S. interests in Bosnia. Police handled all Embassy requests to identify and/or investigate suspicious individuals or incidents as priority matters. ¶12. Following a November surveillance incident, State and Federation level agencies have been investigating a potential threat to the Mission. Police increased the Mission's security profile and at year's end were aggressively pursuing all leads to conclusion. ¶13. On November 29, NATO invited Bosnia to participate in the Partnership for Peace (PfP). Bosnia indicated it wants to use the PfP process in part to enhance the counterterrorism capabilities of its armed forces (Ref. D). In December, the Ministry of Defense pledged to donate 50,000 AK-47 rifles and necessary ammunition to security forces in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Ref. C). Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to deploy a 36-member Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This unit began its fourth rotation in Iraq in November. ¶14. Embassy Point of Contact: Questions or comments concerning this report should be directed to PolOff Lisa Gregory, tel: 387 33 445 700 x2211, fax: 387 33 639 722, email: GregoryLB@state.gov. CEFKIN