VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVJ #3249/01 3601045
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261045Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5113
INFO RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 003249 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/CT (SHORE); NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KPAO KHLS AEMR PREL PGOV
BK 
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: 2006 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: A. A. STATE 175925 
     ¶B. SARAJEVO 3192 
     ¶C. SARAJEVO 3151 
     ¶D. SARAJEVO 3115 
     ¶E. SARAJEVO 2744 
     ¶F. SARAJEVO 2575 
     ¶G. SARAJEVO 2452 
     ¶H. SARAJEVO 2072 
     ¶I. SARAJEVO 2042 
     ¶J. SARAJEVO 1915 
     ¶K. SARAJEVO 1748 
     ¶L. SARAJEVO 1695 
     ¶M. SARAJEVO 1664 
     ¶N. SARAJEVO 1340 
     ¶O. SARAJEVO 890 
     ¶P. SARAJEVO 732 
     ¶Q. SARAJEVO 334 
     ¶R. SARAJEVO 119 
 
¶1. This cable contains Embassy Sarajevo's submission to the 
2006 Country Reports on Terrorism, as requested in Ref. A 
 
¶2. Bosnia and Herzegovina's law enforcement organizations 
continued their good counterterrorism cooperation with the 
United States, within the limits of current institutional 
capacities.  However, Bosnia remained a weak state, with 
multiple semi-autonomous centers of power, vulnerable to 
exploitation as a terrorist safe haven or as a staging ground 
for potential terrorist operations in Europe.  Nevertheless, 
there were notable signs of increased local operational 
capability to combat terrorism and terrorism finance. 
 
¶3. Media reporting and editorial comment concerning U.S. 
counterterrorism policies became increasingly negative during 
the year, particularly regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees, 
including the so-called "Algerian Six."  Criticism of Bosnian 
government counterterrorism initiatives and U.S. 
counterterrorism policies from Bosnian politicians and local 
activists increased, particularly during the 2006 national 
election campaign.  (Ref. F, H, K, L, O, and R.) 
 
¶4. Bosnian authorities continued to strengthen existing 
counterterrorism mechanisms and develop new ones.  On July 
24, the Council of Ministers adopted a general framework for 
creating a national counterterrorism strategy, and approved 
formation of an interagency working group, led by the 
Ministry of Security, to develop it.  The Inter-Ministerial 
Counterterrorism Task Force (IMCTF), formed in December 2004, 
is currently responsible for coordinating all State-level 
institutions with counterterrorism responsibilities.  These 
are: the State Border Police (SBP), the State Investigative 
and Protection Agency (SIPA), the Ministry of Security (MoS), 
the State Court and State Prosecutor's Office, the Foreigners 
Affairs Service (FAS), and the Bosnian State Intelligence and 
Security Agency (OSA). 
 
¶5. The IMCTF directed two successful terrorism-related 
deportations during the year.  On February 8, SIPA, SBP, FAS 
and the State Prosecutor worked together to remove convicted 
terrorist Said Atmani from the country.  Atmani, a Moroccan 
national who fought in Bosnia during the war, served three 
years in jail for a bombing in France in the mid-1990s, 
before returning to Bosnia in 2005 (Ref. Q).  On August 30, 
these agencies deported Tunisian national Bedrudin Ferchicij 
(a.k.a. Abu Malik), a Mujahedin fighter who had remained 
illegally in Bosnia after the war (Ref. I).  Despite these 
successes, the IMCTF's operational effectiveness was 
generally hampered by insufficient coordination, including 
infrequent communications and lack of clear divisions of 
labor among the agencies. 
 
¶6. In January 2006, the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
formed the Citizenship Review Commission (CRC).  The CRC 
reviews the status of foreign Mujahedin fighters and others 
who obtained Bosnian citizenship during and after the 1992-95 
war, and withdraws citizenship from those who had obtained it 
improperly.  In October the Council of Ministers adopted the 
Commission's interim progress report.  According to the 
report, the CRC has completed preliminary reviews of 
approximately 600 cases (about half the total number 
pending), adjudicated 150 decisions, and stripped about 50 
individuals of their citizenship.  Among those stripped were 
three men identified by the UNSC 1267 Committee as belonging 
to or associated with the Taliban and al-Qaida (Ref. H and 
K.). 
 
¶7. The FAS has responsibility for determining the appropriate 
legal status of people stripped of citizenship and initiating 
deportations when mandated under the Law on Movement and Stay 
of Aliens and Asylum.  Although created in August 2005, 
vacant leadership positions stalled FAS institutional 
development until summer 2006.  The process of drafting a 
revised Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens that would define 
and strengthen the FAS, which also began in 2005, remained 
unfinished at the end of 2006. 
 
¶8. The Bosnian State Court heard opening arguments in the 
first state-level terrorism trial in July.  The trial remains 
underway with three individuals, arrested in October 2005, 
charged with terrorism, and two others with illegal 
possession of explosives.  During the arrests, authorities 
confiscated weapons, explosives, a crudely fashioned suicide 
belt and a video depicting masked men supposedly preparing to 
attack unspecified European targets.  Lead defendants Mirsad 
Bektasevic and Abdulkadir Cesur were linked to terrorist 
networks elsewhere in Europe, and Cesur was also a named 
defendant in a terrorism trial concurrently underway in 
Denmark.  The Bosnian Court expects to render a decision in 
early 2007. (Ref. G and P.) 
 
¶9. The government remained vigilant against the reopening of 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) previously banned for 
terrorism finance activity.  Bosnian officials continued 
working closely with the United States to obtain information 
to build cases for new NGO designations (Ref. J and N). 
Authorities also continued investigating organizations, 
businesses, and individuals for links to terrorist financing 
(Ref. B).  During the reporting period, there was no evidence 
of systematic linkages between organized crime groups and 
terrorist organizations (Ref. E and M).  There were no 
terrorist-financing related prosecutions under the Law on 
Prevention of Money Laundering during the year. 
 
¶10. The Bosnian organization Aktivna Islamska Omladina 
(Active Islamic Youth, or AIO) continued to spread extremist 
and anti-American rhetoric through its weekly print and 
on-line publication, SAFF Magazine.  AIO was founded in 
Zenica in 1995 by individuals with ties to the so-called "El 
Mujahid brigade," a wartime unit comprised mainly of foreign 
jihadists.  There were indications that AIO continued to 
conduct youth outreach in Bosnia during the year, and to 
maintain a presence in Western Europe.  SAFF Magazine was 
also distributed through out the Balkans and in some Western 
European countries. 
 
¶11. Law enforcement at all levels cooperated with Mission 
security personnel on terrorism-related and other threats 
directed against U.S. interests in Bosnia.  Police handled 
all Embassy requests to identify and/or investigate 
suspicious individuals or incidents as priority matters. 
 
¶12. Following a November surveillance incident, State and 
Federation level agencies have been investigating a potential 
threat to the Mission.  Police increased the Mission's 
security profile and at year's end were aggressively pursuing 
all leads to conclusion. 
 
¶13. On November 29, NATO invited Bosnia to participate in the 
Partnership for Peace (PfP).  Bosnia indicated it wants to 
use the PfP process in part to enhance the counterterrorism 
capabilities of its armed forces (Ref. D).  In December, the 
Ministry of Defense pledged to donate 50,000 AK-47 rifles and 
necessary ammunition to security forces in Afghanistan in 
support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Ref. C).  Bosnia and 
Herzegovina continues to deploy a 36-member Explosive 
Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit in Iraq in support of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom.  This unit began its fourth rotation in Iraq 
in November. 
 
¶14. Embassy Point of Contact: Questions or comments 
concerning this report should be directed to PolOff Lisa 
Gregory, tel: 387 33 445 700 x2211, fax: 387 33 639 722, 
email: GregoryLB@state.gov. 
CEFKIN