BOSNIAN TOWNSFOLK "SHOCKED" AT WAHHABI THRONG ATTENDING LEADER'S FUNERAL
BBC Monitoring International Reports - April 4, 2007, Wednesday

Text of report by Bosnian Croat daily Dnevni list on 3 April

[Report by Goran Leko: "Country Lives in Fear of Wahhabis" p5]

Mostar/Tuzla: The sight of several thousand Wahhabis who gathered to attend the funeral of Jusuf Barcic, leader of the Wahhabis in Bosnia-Hercegovina, has shocked the public.

No one has ever guessed that there are so many supporters of the movement in this country. For a couple of hours, they made the Bukovcici cemetery look like Palestine. On many occasions the local authorities have denied the existence of such a great number of Wahhabis in Bosnia-Hercegovina and have often emphasized that they do not pose a threat. However, the Wahhabis' hostility toward journalists and the police was terrifying. Yesterday, the residents of Tuzla, where Barcic was buried on Sunday [1 April] afternoon, were still in shock at the sights they saw in their city. The feeling of helplessness and fear spread via the media across the whole country.

All journalists videotaped

The residents of Tuzla, who withdrew into their homes fearing an 'invasion' by the Wahhabis before and after Barcic's funeral, were particularly shocked to see that the burial was attended by several members of the Kalesija IZ [Islamic Community] and Tuzla Mufti Husein effendi Kavazovic. It was even more shocking because it was none other than Mufti Kavazovic who had called on the authorities to take action against Barcic's Wahhabis.

Kavazovic did not appear at the Tuzla Mufti Office yesterday. We tried to reach him to explain to the public why he had attended Barcic's funeral, but we were told that he would be available the following day.

It is also worth noting that Mufti Kavazovic stood in the front row during Barcic's funeral, while the followers of radical Islam, whose very appearances inspired fear, even climbed trees to get a better view of the ceremony. The whole city resounded with the shouts of Allahu Akhbar [God is great].

Apart from having verbally attacked journalists before the funeral and even made death threats against a few of them, the Wahhabis recorded all of them using the cameras they had brought to record the event. Yesterday, journalists, too, were frightened for their lives.

Nevertheless, Izudin Saric, spokesman for the Tuzla Cantonal MUP [Interior Ministry], yesterday told us that no criminal charges would be filed against the Wahhabis because the journalists had not been physically attacked.

We have received no confirmation of alleged attacks on the police, of which journalists reported from the scene. According to some information, during the burial the police officers in charge of securing the event took photographs of Barcic's followers. They will be investigated to see if any of them have terrorist ties. But that is little consolation for the citizens.

Journalists' rights denied

One thing that should be done now is to file charges at the relevant prosecutor's office against a group of Wahhabis who on Sunday jeopardized basic human and professional rights of the journalists who attended the event.

Les us recall, the journalists who came to report on Barcic's funeral were surrounded by a group of around 100 Wahhabis who prevented them from doing their job and called them offensive names. The most vociferous among them was Barcic's closest associate, Karray Kamel Bin Ali, a naturalized Bosnian of Tunisian origin, who served a prison sentence in Zenica for murder. A physical confrontation was avoided shortly before the burial when Syrian Abu Hamza, leader of the mujahidin in Bosnia-Hercegovina and former mujahidin spokesman, approached the journalists and told them to continue doing their job.

Source: Dnevni list, Mostar, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 3 Apr 07

Copyright 2007 Financial Times Information
Copyright 2007 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information Limited
Posted for Fair Use only.