Bosnian TV says US Army members threatened by local "jihadists"
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - January 16, 2009 Friday

Excerpt from report by Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation public TV's 60 Minutes current affairs programme, on 12 January; subheadings inserted editorially

[Video shows excerpt from an article published by the Sarajevo-based Islamist biweekly Saff: "When a well-paid, armed and well-fed American soldier goes to defend Bosnians, this is considered a humane act. When a Bosniak uses his own money to buy a gun and makes arrangements for his family so he can fight for the Muslims of Chechnya, this is portrayed as a criminal act"]

[Reporter Damir Kaletovic] This media outlet which supports the most radical and potentially most dangerous part of the Bosnian society, Wahhabis who have radical religious beliefs, has used these words to justify Bosnian Muslim participation in the Chechen war. Several years later, things have changed and those who publicly urged volunteers to go to Chechnya and fight the despised Russians, now urge the volunteers to go to Iraq to fight the equally despised Americans.

According to information we received from certain foreign agencies and our field investigations, radical Bosnian Islamists have already experienced the hell of Iraq, fighting against the Allied forces in that country. Instead of US soldiers' scalps, these volunteers are returning to Bosnia with propaganda material which shows horrific and perfidious murders of US soldiers. We obtained one DVD [video showing US soldiers killed by sniper Juba in Iraq] with this material from our informants who are active in the Zenica-Doboj and Central Bosnia Canton.

The only purpose of films such as this one, which glorify the fight against the Western alliance in Iraq, is to recruit young men from Bosnia-Hercegovina and send them to Iraq and to create similar conditions in the territory of Bosnia-Hercegovina.

To make things even worse, this 30-minute film has been translated into Bosnian, as you can see in this footage, which shows that the authors have done their best in order for the indoctrination to bear concrete results as soon as possible. Be warned that the following [video] excerpts are very shocking and those of you with health problems should switch off their TVs for a moment [video footage of US soldiers being killed and commander of sniping unit explaining the tactics used]

The DVD with this horrific footage is being handed out to selected cadres in the central Bosnia canton from where further distribution is organized. At the same, certain groups from abroad, mainly from Austria and Germany, are paying periodical visits to the Central Bosnia, Una-Sana and Zenica-Doboj cantons where they meet sympathizers.

According to our information, it is not ruled out that at their secret meetings all options are being discussed, including attacks on US Army representatives and members deployed with NATO in our country.

It is indicative that recently numerous visits have been registered in the Central Bosnia-Canton by radical Islamists of B-H [Bosnia-Hercegovina] origin who live and work abroad. They are joined there by sympathizers from other Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation cantons. According to the same information, they all make their own travelling arrangements.

Our informers have supplied us with details of licence plates of cars present in the area, linked to the efforts to set up a wide network of suitable cadres and recruitment of future jihadists. [video shows still with following details of car manufacturers and licence plates]

Among those who are reportedly the most distinguished and dangerous followers of the Wahhabi movement, several names need to be highlighted particularly those of members of the Bugojno, Donji Vakuf and Jajce groups. [video shows stills with names and photos of Islamists]

If they used 2007 to get organized, 2008 for developing and improving their network as well as testing the market, then 2009 could be the year in which radical groups will realize their full potential regarding terrorism. [passage omitted]

After this story, it is much clearer why B-H is mentioned in almost every relevant international report dealing with potential terrorist threats. [passage omitted]


Source: Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation TV, Sarajevo, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1900 gmt 12 Jan 09
Posted for Fair Use only.