AP, November 22, 2001
Bosnian passports in Afghanistan
Officials say two Bosnian passports were found in abandoned Taliban house in Afghanistan
BY: AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON; Associated Press Writer
Afghanistan's northern alliance found two Bosnian passports among
documents in a house vacated in Kabul by the fleeing Taliban,
officials said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Alija Behmen of the Muslim-Croat federation making
up half of Bosnia said the passports belong to two people
originally from Islamic countries who had been given Bosnian
citizenship which was later revoked.
He did not further identify
the two. Following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United
States, the government launched a review of citizenship issued to
foreigners in the last 10 years, including those from Islamic
countries who fought on the side of local Muslims during the
Bosnian war.
Ninety four citizenships were revoked last week, after the review
showed the applicants submitting false or insufficient data in
their citizenship bids.
Bosnia, a country with 1 million Muslims, is home to some 200
Islamic fighters who came to the area a decade ago to fight on
the Muslim side of the Bosnian war, married local women and
stayed.
Some of those who fought in Bosnia have been linked to terrorist
acts, including three of the four Saudi nationals who confessed
to the 1995 bombing of a U.S. base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In a campaign sparked by the Sept. 11 attacks, Bosnian
authorities have so far arrested six Algerians under suspicion of
having links to international terrorists and endangering western
interests in Bosnia. At least one was allegedly linked to the
al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden.
The arrests were made in cooperation with the NATO-led peace
force in Bosnia, which provided intelligence for the operation.
U.S. Lt. Gen. John Sylvester, commander of the peace force, said
Wednesday his units and Bosnian police continue "identifying and
eliminating a support network that exists here to help the
members of terrorist groups and their collaborators who are
seeking to use Bosnia-Herzegovina as a place to make plans, raise
money and recruit followers."
"Extremist elements bent on evil see this country as a vulnerable
place where they hope to operate outside the safeguards of
society," Sylvester said. "Joined by the courageous leadership of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, we are determined they will fail."
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