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Viewing cable 09SARAJEVO1379, BOSNIA - 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09SARAJEVO1379 2009-12-17 14:13 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Sarajevo
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVJ #1379 3511413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171413Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1136
UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001379 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT RHONDA SHORE AND NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER BA
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 109980 
 
 
1.  Attached is Post's draft submission for the 2009 country 
report on terrorism.  Embassy point of contact for this 
report is Michael Martin, martinmb@state.gov. 
 
2.  Despite ethnic polarization and disputes among Bosnian 
political leaders that hindered the functioning of state 
government, Bosnia and Herzegovina's law enforcement 
organizations cooperated with the United States on 
international counterterrorism issues.  Bosnia remained a 
weak, decentralized state with poor interagency communication 
and competing security structures. Efforts by Republika 
Srpska officials to undermine state-level institutions slowed 
efforts to improve operational capabilities to combat 
terrorism and terrorist financing. These factors resulted in 
Bosnia being vulnerable to exploitation as a potential 
staging ground for terrorist operations in Europe. 
 
The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) is the 
state-level Bosnian law enforcement agency with primary 
responsibility for counterterrorism operations. SIPA's 
capacity is limited, but it improved its cooperation with the 
entity-level police forces in the Federation and Republika 
Srpska on terrorism issues. In an effort to more effectively 
investigate and prosecute terrorism cases, the State 
Prosecutor's Office transferred responsibility for these 
cases to the Special Department for Organized Crime, which 
receives technical assistance from the U.S. and other members 
of the international community.  Politicization of the 
terrorism issue in Bosnia, including terrorism threat 
analysis, was less of a problem this year than in the past. 
The state-level intelligence service provided excellent 
cooperation, and Bosnian authorities were generally 
responsive to U.S. counterterrorism cooperation requests.  In 
December 2008 Bosnia accepted three former Guantanamo 
detainees for resettlement. 
 
Some former members of the mujahedin brigade, whose 
citizenship was revoked by the Citizenship Review Commission, 
have pursued appeals of these decisions that remained 
unresolved. In the case of Abu Hamza al-Suri (Imad 
al-Husayn), the appeals process has lasted more than one 
year.  The state-level Constitutional Court  returned several 
 portions of Hamza's appeal to the State Court, and the court 
had not adjudicated this case as of December 2009. 
 
In November, four individuals led by Rijad Rustempasic with 
alleged ties to extremists were arrested for terrorism and 
weapons trafficking. One of the suspects wanted in this case 
remains at large. 
 
The Bosnian organization Aktivna Islamska Omladina (Active 
Islamic Youth, or AIO) fractured and is no longer an 
officially registered organization. However some former 
members continued to spread extremist doctrine. These former 
members maintained links with extremists in Western Europe 
and the United States. 
 
Former AIO member Nusret Imamovic and his community in Gornja 
Maoca are attracting increased attention.  Concerns have been 
raised over the extent to which he and his followers are 
attempting to create a community that follows Shariah law and 
operates outside the Bosnian legal system.  Some law 
enforcement officials have reportedly encountered resistance 
while attempting to patrol or carry out investigations in the 
village. 
 
Bosnia has deployed 10 officers to augment Alliance military 
staffs operating under NATO's International Security and 
Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.  Bosnian defense 
institutions are considering the deployment of approximately 
100 additional soldiers to Afghanistan to provide assistance 
in Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and fixed site security. 
 However, the Bosnian government has yet to approve this 
deployment as of December 2009. 
ENGLISH