Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
By Tatiana Stoyanovich
[REGNUM] It is not surprising that some citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are involved in financing terrorist operations in the Middle East. So the Russian historian, researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Georgy Engelhardt commented on the news that in early September, the prosecutor's office of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought charges against 61-year-old Sena Hamzabegovic of financing terrorist operations.
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According to the BiH prosecutor's office, the defendant transferred about 118,000 euros to her compatriots who fought on the fronts of Syria and Iraq on the side of the "Islamic State." Sometimes she personally took money to Syria and gave it to Muradif Hamzabegovich, who used the funds to pay salaries to persons involved in terrorist activities or to buy weapons.
"It can be assumed that Sena Khamzabegovich acted as a communication channel and forwarded funds collected by the Muslim diaspora in Europe," the expert admitted.
Engelhardt recalled that a serious presence of Islamist radical groups in BiH has been noted since 1992, since the beginning of the civil conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
"Just at the start of the Bosnian war, the mujahideen in Afghanistan won a final victory and took over almost the entire country, overthrowing the pro-Soviet regime of President Mohammad Najibullah.
In the spring of 1992, the so-called. The "Arab Afghans" found themselves at a crossroads, as they had nothing to do in Afghanistan itself. Nevertheless, they could not return to their native countries, since their authorities, who easily let their radicals go to Afghanistan, were not eager to see them again in their homeland, let alone share power with them. And here the Bosnian war was the ideal solution for many of them. It was a front to which one could safely send the victorious veterans so that they would not destabilize the situation in the countries of the Arab world," said George Engelhardt.
According to Engelhardt, from two to three thousand "Arab Afghans" took part in the Bosnian war, and in the three years that the fighting was going on, they got the opportunity to gain a foothold in the new territory. At the end of the conflict, many of them dispersed on new fronts, the expert added.
"But it is known that in the history of Al-Qaeda, this Bosnian episode was not of the last importance. These people, who have spent several years in Bosnia, have made efforts to gain adherents among local Muslims. From this time, the history of Bosnian radical Islam begins. Basically, all the organizations that still exist were at one time founded by these Arab mujahideen.
In the early years, Sarajevo granted them citizenship and allowed them to settle in the country. After the September 11 terrorist attack, the then Muslim authorities, under pressure from the Americans, deprived of their citizenship and expelled about 60 former Mujahideen," said Engelhardt.
The historian added that even then this step provoked a serious internal political crisis in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosniac-Croatian autonomy within BiH - IA REGNUM), which led to the resignation of the government. Since then, hundreds of Islamic radicals remained on the territory of BiH and they created their own small territorial enclaves there, interacting with like-minded people both in Europe and the Middle East, Engelhardt said.
"Therefore, a significant number of Boshnyaks left to fight in the Middle East, primarily in Syria and Iraq. Historically, they were mainly associated with the cells of Al-Qaeda, in its current form it is Dzhebhat al-Nusra.
To a lesser extent, they were also associated with the "Islamic State" simply due to the fact that these Boshnyak Islamist groups are very conservative. They initially focused on Al-Qaeda, and when a conflict arose between it and the "Islamic State", they supported their old partners," Engelhardt said.
According to the historian, radical Islam is present throughout the entire territory of the existence of Muslim communities in the Balkans, but in BiH it is most pronounced. At the same time, he believes that there is hardly a zone of growing extremism, radicalism and terrorism on this territory, which is sometimes spoken and written about.
"Bosnia is more of a reference point, a place where radicals are preparing. There are closed villages, but in comparison with the so-called. problem areas in the cities of France or, for example, in Brussels, there is nothing like this in Bosnia. There, the concentration of radicals is much lower. Another thing is that they are, perhaps, less under the control of anyone else. To a greater extent they are used as a kind of security zone, but not as a front, where these Islamists are actively engaged in subversive activities or terror,” summed up Engelhardt.
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