YOUTUBE THREATS TO BOSNIAK LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 002082 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DICARLO, EUR/SCE (FOOKS, STINCHCOMB, HOH),S/WCI (WILLIAMSON, LAVINE),INL; NSC FOR BRAUN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER KAWC KCRM BK SUBJECT: YOUTUBE THREATS TO BOSNIAK LEADERS REF: SARAJEVO 1990 Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Murphy for Reasons 1.4 (B ) and (D) ¶1. (U) On September 29, a user identified as Hattab 72 posted a nine-minute video clip on YouTube threatening President Haris Silajdzic, Islamic Community President Reis Ceric, and SDA President Sulejman Tihic with &political, moral, and religious assassination8 if they continue to support the Citizenship Review Commission (CRC). The CRC was established to review the status of persons who obtained Bosnian citizenship between April 1992 and January 2006. It has stripped approximately 600 individuals of their citizenship on the grounds that it was obtained fraudulently. Many of these individuals were former mujahedeen, who now potentially face deportation. ¶2. (U) In text scrolling against a green background, the footage accuses the three leaders of being &shamelessly silent in the face of ongoing violations of human rights,8 and characterizes the former mujahedeen who had their citizenship stripped as &brothers who are being persecuted for no reason.8 The text continues accusing the three of &selling this country piece by piece, and Muslim by Muslim.8 It concludes with an ultimatum that the leaders take action to &prevent this moral and humanitarian catastrophe8 by Bajram (October 12) or lose their &positions, power, and freedom.8 ¶3. (C) Comment: This is the second video posted by Hattab 72 on YouTube in less than a month. The earlier video was designed to undermine the defense of Bosniak war-time commander Rasim Delic, who is on trial for war crimes in The Hague (Reftel). At that time, many observers speculated that someone associated with the mujahedeen, perhaps even a former foreign fighter, posted the Delic clip to &get back8 at Bosnian officials for supporting the CRC process. This latest posting may signal that Hattab 72 is engaged in a broader public campaign to increase political pressure on Bosniak leaders to protect mujahedeen. Whatever his motives, the most recent clip demonstrates that Hattab 72 follows Bosnian politics closely and can quickly produce his clips. The September 29 clip refers to the Dodik-Silajdzic Protocol on Police Reform, which was signed on September 28. CEFKIN