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November 27, 2005

Bosnia: Another Islamist Suspect Arrested

We described earlier the arrest in Bosnia on October 23 of two individuals in Bosnia-Herzegovina. These individuals were later named as Cesur Abdulkadir, aged 18, a Turkish national, and a Swedish citizen, Mirsad Bektasevic, aged 19. Connected with the investigation into the activities of these two individuals, four young suspects were picked up in Copenhagen Denmark on October 24, and two more in Copenhagen on October 28.

The Turkish and Swedish citizens' arrest had brought with it the discovery of a large cache of explosives, firearms and other military materials. These included, according to the International Herald Tribune, "suicide vests, about 30 kilograms, or 65 pounds, of exploding bullets and high explosive, and a machine pistol. Investigators said they also found a videotape in which three men - at least two of them teenagers - are seen asking forgiveness from God for their "sacrifice," a recording made just hours before the raid. The two teenagers were arrested."

On November 19 it was announced that another two Islamist suspects had been arrested in Bosnia, following interrogation of the two earlier suspects.

Now, according to the Balkan Times, a further individual has been detained, who is thought to have links to the four individuals earlier detained in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The International Herald Tribune states today that this man, who was arrested on 24 November, has been charged with supplying explosives. A cache of 10 kilograms of explosives found in the forest at Hadijici near Sarajevo belonged to this individual.

The four Bosnian suspects are believed to have been involved in plotting attacks. There appear to be strong indications from the seven people (another was arrested later) detained in Copenhagen that that this plot involved a major attack on a landmark in a major European city.

The Danish detainees appear in one case to be linked to three men charged with terrorist offences in Britain on November 4, Waseem Mughal, Younis Tsouli and Tariq al-Daour. Tsouli also had images and information on his computer suggesting a target city for an attack was Washington DC.

The IHT states that Cesur Abdulkadir and Mirsad Bektasevic had been living in an apartment in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, and had been arrested after a surveillance operation which had started in September and had originally included 10 people.

Cesur and Bektasevic had arrived in Bosnia three weeks prior to their arrest. According to IHT, he had left school a year and a half ago and had been unemployed. He attended a mosque in Gothenburg, near his family home on the west coast of Sweden. His mother stated that he had come under the influence of three men, a Palestinian from Syria, a Kurd and a Somali, who had impressed on him the notion that he would go to hell if he did not pray. She denied that her son could be a suicide bomber.

Cesur was Turkish but had Danish residency, and Bektasevic had left Bosnia at the age of 6 to go with his family to Sweden. His mother claims that when he had recently arrived in Bosnia, he had gone to stay with her relatives, and she had given him the bus money to make the trip.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 27, 2005 2:28 PM

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