VZCZCXRO4200
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPOD #0171/01 1911157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101157Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1404
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0565
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 0209
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO PRIORITY 0154
RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA PRIORITY 0143
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1493

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PODGORICA 000171 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL MW
SUBJECT: RADICAL ISLAM IN MONTENEGRO 
 
PODGORICA 00000171  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Over the last decade, fundamentalist Islam, 
known here as Wahhabism, has established a small foothold among 
Montenegro's 110,000 Muslims.  There are probably a few hundred 
adherents in country, concentrated in majority-Muslim towns of 
Plav and Rozaje, close to Kosovo and Albania.  The so-called 
Wahhabis, who have links with Bosnia and Serbia (and similar 
groups in some Western European cities), initially challenged 
mainstream Muslim authorities in several towns and villages. 
After a perceived crackdown on extremists in Serbia's Sandzak in 
2007, however, they appear to have adopted a lower profile. 
While continued economic deprivation in northern Montenegro, 
where most Muslims live, could radicalize some young Muslims in 
the longer term, Montenegro's centuries-old tradition of 
moderate Islam and healthy inter-ethnic relations provide a 
bulwark against the spread of Wahhabism.  In fact, Embassy 
personnel have repeatedly experienced abundant outpourings of 
warmth toward the United States among the local Muslim (Slav and 
Albanian) population. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
Muslims in Montenegro 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) Montenegro's 110,000 Muslims (almost 18 percent of the 
total population, according to the 2003 census) are divided into 
three groups:  Bosniaks (8 percent of Montenegro's population), 
"Muslims" (5 percent), and Albanians (5 percent; note that some 
Albanian-Montenegrins are Catholics).  Bosniaks and "Muslims" 
are Slavs whose ancestors converted to Islam under Ottoman 
Turkish rule.  Yugoslavia used the term "Muslim" after 1971 to 
describe the ethnicity of its Slavic Muslim population. 
Following Bosnia's lead in the 1990s, some Montenegrin Muslims 
have advocated that Slavic Muslims call themselves "Bosniaks." 
Both "Bosniak" and "Muslim" ethnicities are recognized in 
Montenegro's Constitution. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Almost three-quarters of Montenegro's Bosniaks/Muslims 
live in the country's northern municipalities, where they 
constitute majorities in Rozaje and Plav (the latter also has a 
large Albanian Muslim population) and significant minorities in 
Bijelo Polje, Berane, and Pljevlja.  Albanian Muslims also are 
concentrated in Ulcinj, the Tuzi district of Podgorica, and in 
Bar (which also has a sizeable Bosniak/Muslim population). 
Virtually all Montenegrin Muslims are Sunnis.  Forty years of 
Yugoslav socialist rule secularized many Muslims, and the 
Ottoman-Turkish religious legacy and Balkan intermingling has 
meant that the vast majority of observant Muslims (Slavic and 
Albanian) practice a moderate, tolerant version of Islam. 
 
 
 
The Arrival of "Wahhabism" in Montenegro 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Fundamentalist Islam, commonly called "Wahhabism" in 
the Balkans, spread in the 1990s from Bosnia to the Muslim 
Sandzak area, which straddles the Serbia-Montenegro border.  It 
also appeared in Kosovo and Albania.  Reis Rifat Fejzic, head of 
Montenegro's Islamic Community, told us he first noticed the 
phenomenon in Montenegro in 1999-2000, when a few Montenegrins 
who had visited and/or studied in Sarajevo and in Arab states 
began practicing and promulgating an austere, "Arab" brand of 
Islam. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Tufik Softic, a Berane journalist, told us he 
interviewed several of the first Montenegrin Islamic 
fundamentalists in Plav in 2003.  While they did not call 
themselves Wahhabis (they said they practiced "original Islam"), 
their dress, behavior, and interpretation of the Koran were 
consistent with the strict Islam practiced in some Arab 
countries.  Their leader was Sead Jasavic, a local student of 
Islamic law in Saudi Arabia who frequently visited Plav, where 
he recruited followers.  Softic said Jasavic and other Wahhabis 
quickly gained adherents, in part because Montenegro's "poorly 
educated" mainstream imams were at a disadvantage against 
aggressive and self-assured newcomers claiming to practice "true 
Islam." 
 
PODGORICA 00000171  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Between 2003 and 2007, there were several incidents in 
northern municipalities in which Wahhabis accosted imams for 
what they deemed to be incorrect interpretations of the Koran, 
and even tried to take over mosques.  Softic said that Jasavic 
and his followers attempted to take control of the Islamic 
Community branch in Plav in 2003, but were outvoted.  For a 
time, Softic said, the Plav Islamic Community physically guarded 
the town's mosques to prevent their occupation.  Softic also 
told us that an imam in Lozna, a village outside of Bijelo 
Polje, was attacked by Wahhabis in 2005.  In an interview with 
another journalist, the imam said a group of 20 Wahhabis began 
to frequent his mosque and harass him and other worshipers. 
(Note:  We understand that the imam retained control of the 
Lozna mosque.) 
 
 
 
The Wahhabis:  Who and How Many? 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In mid-2007, the Montenegrin Agency for National 
Security (ANB) stated there were more than 100 "registered 
Islamic extremists" in country.  Our Muslim contacts usually 
cite numbers ranging from 100 - 200 - the Reis Fejzic told us 
150-200, for example - and occasionally more.  Zeljko Madzgalj, 
a Bijelo Polje journalist, estimated that there were 
approximately 300 Wahhabis in Plav, 200 in Rozaje, 50 in Bijelo 
Polje, and smaller numbers in Berane, Ulcinj, and other 
municipalities, including Podgorica.  (Note:  All interlocutors 
agreed that the number of Montenegrin Albanian Wahhabis is very 
small.) 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Several contacts personally knew Wahhabis.  Avdul 
Kurpejovic, head of the Matica Muslimaska NGO, said his nephew, 
who lived in Rozaje, became a Wahhabi in 2003 or 2004.  His 
conversion mystified the family, since he had not studied abroad 
and had not previously been religious.  Kurpejovic said the 
young man kept to himself, worshipping regularly with fellow 
believers in a section of a mosque in Rozaje.  Rifat Veskovic, 
head of the Democratic Union of Muslims and Bosniaks in 
Montenegro, also told us that "about 30" acquaintances from 
Bijelo Polje had become Wahhabis.  Virtually all now lived in 
other places, such as Rozaje, Novi Pazar, and Switzerland. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Several interlocutors claimed that Wahhabis tended to 
recruit poorly educated, previously non-religious villagers from 
Muslim-majority areas.  However, others said they knew 
Montenegrins who had become Wahhabis while studying or working 
in Western Europe.  Very few contacts knew of Muslims who had 
studied in Middle Eastern countries (with the exception of 
Turkey).  Sead Sadikovic, a Bijelo Polje journalist, told us 
"not more than 30-50" Montenegrins had studied in Arab countries 
such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. 
 
 
 
Networks and Funding 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Wahhabis do not appear to be centrally organized, 
although our interlocutors agree that the communities are in 
regular contact.  Several sources noted the Wahhabis seemed well 
funded (one rumor is that they are paid for recruiting new 
adherents), and speculated that the money came from Islamic 
humanitarian organizations (the ANB also has said publicly that 
it believes some funding comes from such organizations).  The 
Reis, Softic, and others mentioned connections with Muslim 
communities in Luxembourg and Vienna.  A number of sources have 
alleged a link between Montenegro and a radical Vienna-based 
imam named "Ebu Muhammed" (aka Nedzad Balkan); other press 
accounts have mentioned links to the "Active Islamic Youth 
Organization" in Sarajevo and Vienna. 
 
 
 
 
PODGORICA 00000171  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Ties to Bosnia and Serbia are better documented. 
Softic said between from 2003-2006, Jasavic held annual Islamic 
youth camps and at least one paramilitary exercise in the Plav 
area for Wahhabis from Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia. 
According to Softic, a Serbian Muslim killed by Serbian 
authorities during the 2007 round-up of radical Islamists in 
Novi Pazar had attended one of Jasavic's camps.  Madzgalj also 
told us that there were rumors that several Serbian Wahhabis had 
found refuge in Plav and Rozaje after the crackdown. 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Veskovic mentioned that a group of Montenegrin 
Wahhabis had moved to a Slavic Muslim village near Pec in Kosovo 
(likely Vitomirica), but after conflicts with the Kosovar 
authorities had either returned to Montenegro or gone to Bosnia 
or Western Europe.  An April article in a Belgrade newspaper 
speculated that Semir Kojic, the leader of the Wahhabi community 
in Vitomirica, had moved to Montenegro.  In August 2008, "Dan" 
reported that ten Wahhabis from Plav and Rozaje attended a 
regional Wahhabi meeting in a village near Bosanska Krupa in 
Bosnia. 
 
 
 
Islamic Community and Wahhabis:  An Uneasy Truce? 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Despite clashes between Islamic Community members and 
Wahhabis before 2007, several contacts charged that mainstream 
Muslim authorities had been reluctant to confront the 
fundamentalists.  Softic said he came under pressure from the 
Islamic Community not to publish his original articles, for 
example.  Another source suggested that the arrival of younger 
imams trained in Arab countries (or in Sarajevo by teachers from 
Arab countries) had made Montenegrin Muslims more receptive to 
fundamentalist views. 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Reis, however, said he publicly called on the 
Islamic Community to distance itself from the radicals (after 
the 2007 Novi Pazar incident, the Reis was quoted as saying that 
those involved were "people who do not understand Islam as a 
religion").  The Reis conceded that "some imams might sympathize 
with Wahhabis," but said he had no proof of this.  He also said 
about 20 of the Community's imams had studied abroad, primarily 
in Bosnia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.  The Reis also noted that 
the Community had recently opened a religious school (madrasa) 
in Tuzi in part to counter the teachings of Islamic 
fundamentalists. 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) Developments in Plav may be illustrative of the 
complicated relationship between the Community and the Wahhabis. 
 According to Softic, after failing to take over the Plav 
Islamic Community and following completion of his Saudi studies, 
Jesavic actually preached for about a year at Plav's 
reconstructed Sultanija Mosque (rebuilt with funds from unnamed 
donors).  However, in mid-2007, the Plav Islamic Community 
declined to renew his contract, reportedly because of his 
Wahhabi beliefs.  In 2008, Jasavic and his followers built their 
own mosque in the village of Krusevo (near Gusinje), which has 
become the main Wahhabi center in the Plav area.  (Softic also 
mentioned that another group of Wahhabis had recently settled in 
the village of Petnjica, near Berane.) 
 
 
 
¶16. (SBU) We also note the case of Ferid Orahovic, formerly imam 
of the Osmanagica Mosque in Podgorica.  The press has reported 
that Orahovic, who graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, 
has "Wahhabi sympathies."  In January 2008, Orahovic joined 
several other imams in accusing Reis Fejzic of illegally 
extending his mandate (the Reis's term now expires this year, 
and elections will be held this summer).  In April 2009, 
Montenegrin police filed charges against Orahovic for allegedly 
threatening to "kill and burn" the Reis, whom he accused of 
"being elected in violation of the religious rules" (Orahovic 
denied making the threat). 
 
 
 
¶17. (SBU) Earlier this month, the Reis closed the Osmanagica 
 
PODGORICA 00000171  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
Mosque, leading to protests by 40-50 believers.  The mosque was 
subsequently reopened, but with a new imam, and the press 
reported that the Reis had offered Orahovic a position teaching 
at the madrasa.  On June 14, the daily paper "Vijesti" quoted a 
member of the mosque saying that Fejzic "managed to make our 
former imam (Orahovic), who taught us the true religion rather 
than innovation, bow to his will."  (Note:  A high-ranking 
Islamic Community official told us recently that Orahovic 
"almost became a Wahhabi but is now back on the path to becoming 
a good Muslim.") 
 
 
 
Wahhabism's Limited Appeal 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶18. (SBU) Most of our contacts at present are not overly alarmed 
by phenomenon of radical Islam.  For one thing, despite earlier 
clashes (and possible links to overseas radicals in Vienna and 
other places), few could cite specific threats from Wahhabis 
toward other Montenegrins (including Muslims), the Montenegrin 
authorities, or Americans/Europeans in country.  In addition, 
most of our contacts professed to be unfamiliar with both the 
word and the practice of "takfir." 
 
 
 
¶19. (SBU) Our interlocutors also believe that the rate of 
Wahhabi expansion and influence has slowed over the past two 
years.  In particular, the 2007 Novi Pazar incident appears to 
have been a watershed, whether because the Montenegrin (and 
other regional) authorities cracked down, because the Islamic 
Community began to more openly confront the Wahhabis, or because 
the Wahhabis themselves began to take a less confrontational 
tact.  (To illustrate his assertion that the Wahhabis have 
retrenched, Softic noted that Jasavic has not held his annual 
youth camps since the Novi Pazar arrests in 2007.  He also 
related how he had been surprised to see Jasavic taunted by a 
group of young spectators at a football match in Plav in early 
June - "this would never have happened a few years ago," he 
said.) 
 
 
 
¶20. (SBU) Furthermore, Montenegro's centuries-old tradition of 
moderate Islam tends to make most of its Muslims wary of radical 
beliefs.  Montenegrins of all faiths also are intermingled in a 
way that is not the case in Serbian Sandzak (the exceptions 
being majority Muslim areas of Rozaje and Plav, of course).  In 
addition, Montenegro has not hosted significant numbers of Arab 
nationals or organizations, and Montenegrin Muslims have by and 
large not been radicalized by the conflicts experienced by 
fellow believers in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia.  In fact, 
relations between the Muslim community and the Montenegrin 
authorities have, since the mid-1990s split from Milosevic, been 
quite good, with Muslims (Slavs and Albanians) being a key 
pillar of support for the GoM.  These factors act as significant 
bulwarks against the spread of fundamentalist Islam here. 
 
 
 
¶21.  A good example occurred in late June in Bar at the 
re-opening of a mosque attended by the Ambassador.  Virtually 
all of the speakers praised the United States (the benefactor of 
the mosque restoration was a naturalized American from Bar) and 
harmonious interethnic relations in Bar.  In fact, the 
organizers had invited representatives of the Orthodox and 
Catholic churches, as well as the (ethnically Montenegrin) Mayor 
to play leading roles in the celebration.  After the ceremony, 
participants - including representatives of the Montenegrin 
Muslim diaspora living in the U.S. -- showered the Ambassador 
with outpourings of good will and friendship.  "America is great 
again," a prominent community leader wrote us afterwards. 
MOORE