BOSNIA - 2008 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001883 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT RHONDA SHORE AND NCTC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - 2008 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM REF: A.) STATE 124815 B.) STATE 120019 ¶1. (U) Attached is the 2008 update to the Country Report on Terrorism. Embassy Point of Contact for this report is Deputy Political Counselor Michael Martin (martinmb@state.gov). ¶2. (U) Bosnia and Herzegovina Despite ethnic polarization and disputes among Bosnian political leaders that hindered the functioning of state government, Bosnia and Herzegovina's law enforcement organizations cooperated with the United States on international counterterrorism issues. Bosnia remained a weak, decentralized state with poor interagency communication and competing security structures. Efforts by Republika Srpska officials to undermine state-level institutions slowed efforts to improve operational capabilities to combat terrorism and terrorism finance. These factors, combined with political interference in law enforcement, resulted in Bosnia being vulnerable to exploitation as a potential staging ground for terrorist operations in Europe. The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) is the state-level Bosnian law enforcement agency with primary responsibility for counterterrorism operations, but SIPA's capacity is limited. The position of SIPA Director was filled in December of 2007 after a vacancy that lasted almost a year, and the leadership issue in that organization is gradually being addressed. The head of the Ministry of Security, parent organization to SIPA, continued to politicize the Ministry's terrorism threat analysis and counterterrorism operations. Consequently, Bosnian capabilities and potential for independent action at the state level did not improve as much as hoped. The state-level intellgence service (OSA) provided excellent cooperatin, and Bosnian authorities, including at the entit level, were generally responsive to U.S. counteterrorism cooperation requests. Some of the fomer mujahedin fighters whose citizenship was withdrawn by the Citizenship Review Commission (CRC) have pursued appeals of these decisions that remain unresolved. In the case of Abu Hamza al-Suri (Imad al-Husayn),the Bosnian Constitutional Court issued a ruling that upheld lower coQ decisions stripping him of his Bosnian citizenship. The Constitutioal Court did, however, return one portion of Hamza's appeal to the State Court to consider whether deportation and possible resulting family separation would violate his human rights. This case has not yet been adjudicated by the court. In March a group of five individuals led by Rijad Rustempasic with alleged ties to Islamic extremism were arrested for possession of arms and explosives. For reasons that still remain unknown, charges against the defendants were dropped in May and the defendants were released from custody. Investigation of their case continues. The Bosnian organization Aktivna Islamska Omladina (Active Islamic Youth, or AIO) experienced fractures among its leaders and is no longer an officially registered organization in Bosnia. However some former members continue to spread extremist doctrine. These former members maintain links with extremists in Western Europe and the United States. Bosnia successfully concluded its mission in Iraq in December 2008 with the redeployment to Bosnia of its Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team and infantry platoon for fixed site security. Through eight rotations to Iraq the EOD team reduced the threat of unexploded ordnance and excess ammunition. The Bosnian Armed Forces are preparing for the deployment of 10 officers to augment Alliance military staffs operating under NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. ENGLISH