FBI searched Bosnian humanitarian groups for chemical weapons in 2002 - source
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - May 3, 2007, Thursday

Text of report by Bosnian Serb newspaper Nezavisne novine on 2 May

[Report by Mirza Cubro: "FBI Searched for Biological Weapons"]

Sarajevo - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took part in a raid of apartments and premises in Sarajevo that were used by two humanitarian organizations.

"The purpose of the raid was to find unconventional chemical and biological substances. The raid was conducted in cooperation with specialist FBI teams, which used special equipment for detecting unusual substances. The FBI teams participated directly, together with Federation MUP [Interior Ministry] personnel, in searching the offices and apartments," according to information from the Federation MUP's Criminal Police.

The apartments and offices were searched in December 2002. The US Government had sent the B-H authorities information that the UTN [Umma Tameer-e-Nau, NGO founded by Pakistani nuclear scientists, with close ties to Bin-Ladin and the Taleban], based in Pakistan, was planning to organize terrorist attacks in the United States.

After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, reads their message, the relevant US services have the reliable information that the UTN intends to organize terrorist attacks in the United States by using unconventional substances, which means using chemical and nuclear substances.

"The substances were supposed to be procured and transported to the United States through a humanitarian organization called the Global Relief Foundation, which has its offices in Bosnia-Hercegovina," the message adds.

Based on this information, the B-H Federation Supreme Court issued a search warrant to search the premises of the Global Relief Foundation and the Taibah International organizations. These organizations shared the same premises, and their authorized representative was Muhammad El Nagmi. During the search, the FBI and the Federation police did not find any nuclear or biological weapons. The seven employees of these organizations who were arrested were released after interrogation. According to the FBI's official Internet webpage, it has 50 offices outside the United States, as a response by this organization to the globalization of terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and so on.

"This means that we must have agents all over the world; they will work directly on these cases not only to solve the criminal activities problem, but also to collect and distribute the information in a timely fashion," FBI Director Robert S. Mueller said earlier.

[Box] B-H Parliament Without Information

Branko Zrno, chairman of the B-H Parliament's Defence and Security Committee, said that he was not informed about the activities of the FBI in B-H. "The only security-related agreement that exists between B-H and the United States is the one referring to the amnesty of the US soldiers from being tried before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague," Zrno said yesterday.

Zrno does not know if there is any bilateral agreement on FBI activities in B-H. According to the official fbi.gov webpage, the FBI is focused on protecting the United States against terrorism, preventing foreign intelligence activities on US soil, protecting the United States from the Internet and high-tech crime, combating corruption in the United States, and fighting against international criminal organizations.

[Box] Information from Federation MUP on Results of Investigating Work of Global Relief Foundation (GRF)

Date, 20 November 2002

Strictly confidential

Introduction

The Global Relief Foundation is a foreign humanitarian organization based in the United States, at the address: P.O. BOX 1406 Bridge View, IL 60455.

According to the available information, the Global Relief Foundation humanitarian organization was registered in Bosnia-Hercegovina for the first time on 12 January 1999, with its seat in Sarajevo, at the address: 30 A Put Mladih Musimana Street. It emerged from a humanitarian organization corporation called Fondation Secours Mondial - World Relief, which was registered in B-H under court decision number R-III-118/96, issued by the second instance court in Sarajevo on 1 October 1996.

Under the decision issued by the Federation Ministry of Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees, the programme and goals of this humanitarian organization are: providing medical-rehabilitation assistance, education and schooling, construction and reconstruction, helping the development of small enterprises and of agriculture and cattle-breeding, helping with food, providing clothes and footwear, providing financial assistance, printing books and magazines.

The person authorized to represent this humanitarian organization is Muhammad El Nagmi.

Source: Nezavisne novine, Banja Luka, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 2 May 07

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