BOSNIA: TERRORIST SUSPECTS WILL BE INDICTED AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 000732 SIPDIS SIPDIS D FOR D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (FOOKS, ENGLISH, COLLINS, SAINZ),EUR/PGI (COOK, REASOR),S/CT (SALAZAR, KUSHNER),OSD FOR FLORY, NSC FOR BRAUN AND HINNEN, USNIC FOR WEBER AND GREGORIAN, AFSOUTH FOR CURRAN, DOJ FOR FBIHQ, DHS FOR ICE/OIA (SHEA, KUBIAK),VIENNA FOR DHS/ICE E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2011 TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: TERRORIST SUSPECTS WILL BE INDICTED AT STATE COURT REF: A. 05 SARAJEVO 2603 ¶B. 05 SARAJEVO 2740 ¶C. 05 SARAJEVO 3108 Classified By: Ambassador Douglas L. McElhaney. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (U) The BiH State Prosecutor's Office plans to submit its first-ever terrorism indictment on or about April 7. Five individuals will be charged with intent to commit terrorism and illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials. Among the defendants, who are all ethnic Bosniaks, Mirsad BEKTASEVIC (aka "Maksimus") holds Swedish citizenship, Abdulkadir CESUR holds Turkish citizenship, and Bajro IKANOVIC, Amir BAJRIC (aka "Cami),and Senad HASANOVIC (aka "Senci") are BiH nationals. ¶2. (U) The defendants are charged with violating article 201 of the BiH Criminal Code by acquiring and possessing explosive material, weapons and other items "with intent to conduct an act of terrorism on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina or on the territory of another European country." To support the indictment, the State Prosecutor's Office is drawing on a wealth of physical evidence provided by the Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs (FMUP) Bomb Squad, FMUP Criminal Division, SIPA Crime Police Division, BiH Telecom records, and the Danish Ministry of Justice. The physical evidence is bolstered by statements Bajric and Hasnaovic have made to authorities while in custody. ¶3. (C) The indictment is the most complete public document to date describing the weapons and explosives, as well as the "training" videotape containing the defendants' manifesto. According to the indictment, when the accused were arrested they had in their possession all necessary materials to build and deliver an improvised explosive device (e.g., nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene (TNT),a non-operational detonator, and a black knitted "suicide" belt). Police also found a silencer pistol and bullets. The VHS recording shows men supposedly preparing for an attack, while a voice-over is heard saying in part: "Here brothers are getting prepared for an attack... (against) those who are killing our brothers and Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Shishan and in many other places. This weapon will be used against Europe, against those whose troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan." ¶4. (C) While the judicial phase of the case has only just begun, prosecutors are optimistic that the overwhelming amount of physical evidence will weigh in favor of convictions, even though they concede that there is still no information on what specific target, if any, the accused had in mind. Post will continue to monitor the case as it proceeds. MCELHANEY