COMMENTARY CALLS FOR ACTION AGAINST TERRORISM, RELIGIOUS FANATICISM IN MACEDONIA
BBC Monitoring International Reports - December 13, 2004

Text of commentary by Aleksandar Ivanovski: "Islamic fundamentalism linked to Al-Qa'idah" published by Macedonian newspaper Makedonija Denes on 8 December

Ten years after the end of the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina and three years after the signing of the Framework Agreement in Ohrid, the danger of armed conflicts, which has been lurking in the entire region, has not gone yet. This is mostly because of the existence of extremist groups that spice up their fanaticism and radicalism with traits of their own religion, regardless of their religious affiliation. Although religious leaders deny that the wars on the Balkan Peninsula over the past decade have been on religious grounds, our experience shows that there are religious motives behind every war. Namely, it was an open secret that mujahedin from the most notorious terrorist structure in the world, Al-Qa'idah, which is led by Islamic radical Usamah Bin-Ladin, participated in the wars after the fall of SFR (Socialist Federative Republic of) Yugoslavia. The British intelligence service, MI6, and the Russian SBA (expansion unknown) discovered this during the Kosovo conflict, but also during the Macedonian conflict. These conflicts were led by the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA) and the ONA (National Liberation Army - UCK in Albanian), respectively, as structures financed by international Islamic funds for the purpose of spreading Islam, even at the price of war. They are consciously opposing the basic messages of every religion for peace, welfare and coexistence. They also incite passions "in a grand manner," thus directly pushing the region towards the greatest evil known to mankind, war. War is certainly accompanied by other evils, such as arms smuggling, human trafficking, robbery and other horrible deeds of extreme minds.

This is also indicated by the latest warning that comes directly from Brussels. It was Claude Monique (name as transliterated), European terrorism expert and European institutions' adviser, who said, "The Brussels intelligence services think that Skopje Mufti Zenon Berisha is playing a dangerous game with fundamentalists and that perhaps this may be the beginning of new threats." The European expert also added that the faction close to the controversial Mufti Berisha and the local criminal organizations has financial ties with Al-Qa'idah. However, what is most worrying in Monique's statement is the claim that in two years the fundamentalists will certainly plan to create terrorist cells whose financial platform will be built with the "dirty money" obtained through drugs and arms smuggling and prostitution. Moreover, Monique says that the Brussels intelligence officers' data indicate that Macedonia is a type of a grey zone and first stop on the Islamic fundamentalists' journey from the Middle East to the EU.

So far, the Islamic Religious Community (IVZ) is keeping quiet over these serious accusations, which the Macedonian state institutions must also not ignore or neglect. There have been indications of the expansion of religious extremism to date. The unofficial claims of the armed groups in the Skopje village of Kondovo, which are supported by the local imam, who is spreading the dangerous thesis in the village that they are waging a so-called "sacred war," that is, jihad, against the infidels (meaning all people belonging to any other religion), also show this. Islamic fundamentalism is not only detrimental to the IVZ's rating in the country, which was endangered with the armed clash in Reis Effendi Emini's office, but also to the stability of the region that is really threatened with the formation of a purely Islamic state called Greater Albania.

The Interior Ministry (MVR) says that it has taken measures after Brussels' warning that Islamic fundamentalists in the country are cooperating with Al-Qa'idah. However, the MVR has so far not done anything to cut these ties, which, apart from domestic stability, also directly undermine our chances to eventually join the EU. In the EU religious extremism has been condemned and legally sanctioned for a long time. Moreover, it makes our state a dangerous place to live. It is very important that Mufti Berisha's activities have been denounced by almost all the Skopje imams. They collected 150 signatures for his replacement and they submitted them before the beginning of the Ramadan fast. Hence, because of the extremely sick appetites of given individuals, the dignity of Islam and many of its priests is being sacrificed and our country is being labelled as an Al-Qa'idah base. Will we then have face to ask the EU why we have the harshest visa regime to enter some of the West European states, or wonder why there is not a single foreign investment in our country?

It is high time for the IVZ and the MVR to find and prevent the terrorist acts and religious fanaticism in the country, because the universal religious maxim of "whoever takes up the sword shall die by the sword" applies to all religions.


Source: Makedonija Denes, Skopje, in Macedonian 0000 gmt 8 Dec 04

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