BOSNIA NEWS

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - The international community's principal deputy high representative in Bosnia,Raffi Gregorian, has drawn sharp criticism from Bosnian politicial and religious leaders for claiming that Bosnia is harbouring "Al-Qaeda linked individuals".

Gregorian told Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz that some foreign fighters who fought to defend Bosnia from the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions, who had been granted Bosnian citizenship, had links to Al-Qaeda and were helping to finance its operations.

“To be precise, I must say that I don’t know for sure of their direct ties, but some indications exist,” Gregorian said.

Gregorian said that some of the Bosnian citizens were giving help to Al-Qaeda, providing them with financial help, false documents and facilitating their hiding. He said there were “more than ten, but less than 100 such persons” in Bosnia.

The leader of the Bosnian Islamic Community Reis-l-ulema Mustafa Ef. Ceric immediately reacted by saying that Gregorian’s statement was "very unpleasant, incorrect and malicious."

"It is immoral to link Bosnian Muslims to terrorist organisations. If there are Al-Qaeda helpers in Bosnia, then we must know who they are," Ceric said.

"On the other hand, if they don’t exist, then someone has to take responsibility for saying that they do,” Ceric added.

Sulejman Tihic,the president of the biggest Bosnian political party,the Party of Democratic Action (SDA),said that if there are such individuals in Bosnia,it's not Bosnia's fault: "Al-Qaeda has helpers in west European countries and the United States as well," Tihic said.

Up to 400 passports given to former Bosnia's defenders have so far been cancelled but the Bosnian Security Minister Tarik Sadovic has refused deporting the individuals saying it is "a matter for the Bosnian Courts".

The Bosnian government has decided to extend by a further year the mandate of a special commission that has since mid-2006 reviewed the citizenship of around 1,500 former foreign soldiers who fought on the side of the Bosnian Army during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Movement Association condemned the statement made by orthodox christian bishop Vasilije related to the alleged discrimination of the Serbians living in Bosnia and the orthodox christian church in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

The Association said that such statements are not contributing the image of the city where a genocide against Bosnians was committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The Association id of the opinion that the bishop is spreading hate and mistrust among the peoples in Srebrenica. He should be building trust and justice instead.

It is sad that Vasilije is sending the message that no peace will ever exist in Srebrenica. Instead of condemning the injustice in the city, the episcope is sending the messages similar to the ones Serbian war criminals Mladic and Karadzic had sent in 1995, the Association said.

The Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Movement Association representatives reminded the bishop in an open letter that the two orthodox christian churches in Srebrenica remained untouched during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia, “unlike the five mosques burnt to ground on behalf of the interest of the people he is siding”.

Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa are saddened by the claims made by Vasilije that houses of the Serbians living in Bosnia are not being reconstructed in Srebrenica. They said that the village of Ratkovica which is inhabited by the Serbians living in Bosnia has been fully reconstructed and electrified, while many Bosnian families light candles in the evening in their homes.

The Association is also of the opinion that Vasilije’s statement which relates the Bosnian and Serbian victims is minimizing the crime of genocide against the Srebrenica Bosnians,which was committed by the Serbian aggressor in july 1995.

The Association representatives stated that in future such statements will not be tolerated and that they will file a report against Vasilije on behalf of Bosnians who survived the Srebrenica genocide.

IGMAN,Bosnia – US diplomats’ Joseph Kruzel, Robert Frausere, Nelson Drew and French soldier Stefan Raoult’s 12th death anniversary was marked on the Igman Mountain.

Bosnian,French and US officials attended the memorial.US Ambassador to Bosnia said that the victim helped end the brutal war and that the Bosnian citizens were given a chance to rebuild their lives and country. ”Today, we are only continuing what they had been doing”, the US Ambassador said. Filip Boiso, Senior Advisor to the French Ambassador to Bosnia said that dedication of these men helped the war in Bosnia to be stopped.

The Bosnian Deputy Minister of Defense Igor Crndak honored the victims as well.He said that their tragic lives helped everyone in Bosnia to build a better future.

Joseph Kruzel, Robert Frasure, Nelsona Drew, the US diplomats and a French soldier Stephan Raoult tragically lost their lives on the Igman Mountain August 19 1995.

They were heading back to Sarajevo after a peace mission. These diplomats were the first US citizens and the first negotiators to have died during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The Bosnian Liberal Democratic Party welcomed the statement made by the German Ambassador to Bosnia Michael Schmunk, who is one of the first diplomats to publicly announce that Bosnia can survive as “one nation” and who is of the opinion that Bosnia should be divided into five or more economic regions, the party announced.

The Bosnian Liberal Democrats are of the opinion that the German diplomat placed primacy upon a political identity which ties us all to Bosnia as a country, which does not mean that it negates the right of any of the Bosnian citizens to cultural identity and religious determination; as well as to language, alphabet, culture, tradition and characteristics of ethnic communities in Bosnia.

The Bosnian Liberal Democrats added that the political parties of the Serbians living in Bosnia want to frighten their voters.

Bosnia is on the way to the Euro-Atlantic structures. Strategy of the EU economic development is based on the ‘European regions’. In that sense, reactions of the political parties of the Serbians living in Bosnia are only a failed political investment.

"We would like to congratulate the German Ambassador to Bosnia for his courageous statement," the Bosnian Liberal Democrats announced.