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Europe
Islamic extremists seek to exploit frustration in Bosnia
2013-03-02
Nearly 20 years after the fighting stopped in Bosnia-Herzegovnia, a growing number of the country's Muslims have become frustrated with the democratic path their country has taken. And Islamists are exploiting that frustration.
Helped along by the weapons depots mosques the Saoodis funded during and after the civil war...
Unlike ethnic Croats and Serbs in Bosnia, Muslim Bosniaks do not receive economic, political, or moral support from neighboring countries. Many Bosniaks feel alone in their effort to create and maintain their own identity and political institutions. And increasingly, the argument that Shari'a law -- and not democracy -- is the answer for Bosnia.
If you're going to be independent, do you need help from neighboring countries?
Nusret Imamovic, the leader of Bosnia's radical Wahhabi community, told a standing-room-only crowd of some 500 people in Tuzla, "Unlike secularism and democracy, we say there is only one truth -- law of Allah and Shari'a. And it wants the people to accept that truth and surrender to that truth. Does Allah have right to request that? Well, He is the holder and the owner of everything."

The event at which he spoke, "The Advantage Shari'a And The Failure Of Democracy", was billed as a "summit". Although no resolutions or statements were adopted, the well-attended and highly visible meeting was a troubling sign for some in Tuzla, which has generally been known for moderation and tolerance. Residents are proud that the city's Serbian Orthodox church was unscathed during the war.

But surprisingly, only about 30 people gathered outside the hotel to protest the meeting. One young protester said, "My point of view is that democracy died in Germany [in the 1930s] when they allowed the extremists to rule. And this is pure extremism. This has nothing to do with Islam or religion."

At the event in Tuzla, Imamovic was joined by Bilal Bosnic, an equally hard-line Islamist and critic of democracy. He said, "In a democracy, one only has the right to say, 'Yes, I agree' -- the right to approve of whatever is served up to you. But, you know, a human being should not bow his head before anybody but the creator -- our Allah."

Mevlid Jasarevic, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence for firing shots at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo in 2011, spent time before the attack in Imamovic's Islamist community of Gornja Maoca in northeastern Bosnia.

Only a few years ago, their kind of extremism was truly a fringe phenomenon with little traction among Bosnia's Muslims. The official Islamic Community was led by respected moderate Mustafa Ceric until he stepped down in the summer of 2012. While the loss of Ceric's prestige has weakened the Islamic Community's authority, some analysts argue that his advocacy of Bosniak nationalism and his criticism of the post-Dayton system in Bosnia also created a potential foothold for more radical views.
Posted by:ryuge

#1  Always frustrated, always exploited by extremists.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2013-03-02 15:34  

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