Attempt on Life of al-Qaida Informant in Bosnian Prison

Attempt on Life of al-Qaida Informant in Bosnian Prison
Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis - February 21, 2005 Monday

Exclusive. From GIS Station Sarajevo. GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs sources reported that Bahraini Islamist Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, currently imprisoned at Zenica prison in Bosnia-Herzegovina, escaped injury when a murder attempt against him failed during the third week of February 2005. The attempt highlighted the extent to which radical, pro-al-Qaida Islamists within the security apparatus have been able to pursue known commitments by former Bosnian Government members to kill Ali Hamad because of his decision to leave al-Qaida and support anti-terrorist efforts.

The assassination attempt follows the release of a statement by Ali Hamad outlining links between al-Qaida and Bosnian officials, and his public criticism of the European Union-appointed High Representative for Bosnia & Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown, for not acting on detailed information provided to him about the ongoing terrorist presence in Bosnia. Ashdown has consistently denied any terrorist activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has consistently and successfully dismissed any officials who brought to light links between al-Qaida and other terrorist supporting governments with the Bosnian Islamist leadership.

Ali Hamad had also earlier been threatened by former Bosnia-Herzegovina Interior Minister Alija Delimutstafic, who is now also in prison in Sarajevo.

The Bosnian newspaper Dani reported that threat on August 13, 2004, and also noted:

Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, a Bahraini citizen who has confessed to being an al-Qaida infantry counterattack officer and has offered to cooperate with the US authorities, has fallen into disfavor with inmates of Zenica prison, where he is serving 12 years and nine months for terrorism and robbery. Earlier this week, he sent, through his attorney, a long letter to SFOR (NATO Stabilization Force) Commander Gen. Virgil Packett. The letter said that he "does not feel secure in Zenica prison ever since he decided to cooperate with anti-terrorist institutions, left al-Qaida and opposed his former boss Osama Bin Laden and his organization".

The threats against Ali Hamad by Delimutstafic and others were apparently galvanized into an attack in February 2005, but were unsuccessful. The nature of the attack is not yet known, although it is understood that Ali Hamad has been concerned about the fact that, despite substantial cooperation with US and other authorities, he was still in the same prison with other convicted Islamist terrorists.

One GIS source in Sarajevo noted: "It's not just Delimutstafic and others from the SDA (the Muslim Party of Democratic Action; the late Alija Izetbegovic's party, which has been linked to bin Laden) who want to see Ali Hamad dead; it's clear that Ashdown is becoming embarrassed by the constant revelations that the al-Qaida terrorists in Bosnia have been working all along with the Bosnian Islamist leaders. If anything happens to Ali Hamad, it will be because Ashdown has deliberately ignored the warnings and left Ali Hamad to his fate."

See Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis, February 14, 2005: Key al-Qaida Informant Details Additional Information, Criticizes Ashdown's Refusal to Act in Bosnia-Herzegovina .

See Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily, August 23, 2004: Document: "Alija Delimustafic Threatens Former al-Qaida Officer Ali Hamad?"