BOSNIAN FEDERATION POLICE PRODS ACTIVITIES OF
CHARITIES SUSPECTED OF TERRORIST LINKS
BBC Monitoring - May 11, 2004
"Terrorist Activities", published by Bosnian Serb newspaper Nezavisne novine
on 8 May
The Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation Financial Police are checking financial
transactions of some ten humanitarian organizations in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
including Al Furqan, Al Haramain and Al Masjed l-Aqsa Charity Foundation, a
source from the police told Nezavisne novine.
On orders of US President George Bush late last week, US banks have frozen the
assets of three organizations (6 May), which are suspected of supporting
terrorist activities.
"We are conducting an investigation into the business dealings of these
humanitarian organizations and the decision to freeze their US assets is partly
based on information we provided. Some ten humanitarian organizations, not only
these three, are currently under investigation. We have found out that some of
them were using their donors' money for supporting unlawful, that is, terrorist
activities," the source said.
He added that results of the investigation would be presented to the Bosnia-Hercegovina
Federation Prosecutor's Office, which is to decide whether to bring criminal
charges.
The US embassy in Bosnia-Hercegovina has confirmed that the US Treasury
Department has frozen the assets of these organizations and called on the United
Nations to put them on a list of supporters of terrorism.
"We confirm that the decision to freeze the assets of these organizations has
been made. The US authorities have closely cooperated with local institutions in
investigating their activities," the embassy officials said.
The names of these organizations are already known to the local investigation
authorities and the Bosnia-Hercegovina Anti-Terrorist Team has been
investigating their links with terrorist networks.
"I recall that one or two years ago, we were provided with some information on
these organizations and it was decided to ban their activities. They were not
among the organizations registered in Bosnia-Hercegovina. In the registration of
foundations, special attention is paid to their activities and it is rare for
organizations of that kind to be registered at all," said Jusuf Halilagic, the
secretary of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Ministry of Justice and a former member of
the Anti-Terrorist Team.
According to information gathered by the team, these organizations are funded by
Islamic countries and they often change names but continue with the same
activities.
"None of the mojahedin who came to Bosnia-Hercegovina during the war and now
live here would not have been able to stay in the country unless financially
supported by such organizations. This is only part of their activities and such
organizations do not hesitate to spend as much as between 50,000 and 100,000
convertible marks on camping alone," said a member of the Anti-Terrorist Team.
Barisa Colak, the Bosnia-Hercegovina security minister and head of the
Anti-Terrorist Team, has announced the possibility of freezing the assets of
these organizations in Bosnia-Hercegovina and prohibiting their further
activities.
"We will use every legal means available to prohibit the activities and freeze
the assets of organizations found to have supported terrorist groups and
activities. A meeting of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Anti-Terrorist Team will be held
soon to decide on further measures to be taken in this regard," Colak said.
Source: Nezavisne novine, Banja Luka, in
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 8 May 04
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