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May 3, 2006
Bosnia: Three Muslim Terror Suspects Plead "Not Guilty"
We reported on October 23 that two individuals were arrested in Bosnia-Herzegovina, on suspicion of plotting a terror attack. One of these had a Swedish passport, and the other held a Turkish passport. These two individuals had been found carrying explosives, sources close to the investigation had stated. A third man, a Bosnian was also arrested.
A month later more details emerged of the three men. Cesur Abdulkadir was a Turkish national aged 18, and the Swedish citizen was a man of Bosnian origins, 19-year old Mirsad Bektasevic. They had arrived in Bosnia a few weeks before their arrest. In their possession had been suicide vests, about 30 kilograms, or 65 pounds, of exploding bullets and high explosive, and a machine pistol.
Bektasevic had been born in Bosnia but had moved with his family to Sweden aged 6. He had apparently become radicalised at a mosque in Gothenburg. Cesur Abdulkadir had a Danish residency permit. It is believed that the two men were involved with the six young Muslims who had been arrested in Copenhagen Denmark on October 28 and Oct 29. The six Danish individuals had been participants at the mosque run by Abu Laban, the cleric who helped to initiate the international protests about the Danish cartoons.
Now, news from the Local, from Reuters via the Washington Post and Focus-Fen states that three men today appeared in court in Sarajevo, accused of preparing a terrorist attack in a European country. Abdulkadir and Bektasevic, and a Bosnian Barjo Ikanovic all pleaded not guilty to the court in Sarajevo.
29-year old Ikanovic had been arrested in November last year. It is alleged that he helped Abdulkadir and Bektasevic to buy 22 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives, which the two had intended to form into a suicide belt.
The judge who heard their pleas today, Mehmed Sator, adjourned the case, with its first full session being held in two or three months.
Bektasevic had a codename "Maximus" and it is said by Danish sources that he was linked to three men who had been arrested in London on October 20 and 21. Waseem Mughal, Younis Tsouli and Tariq al-Daour had been charged on November 4.
Waseem Mughal, 22, from Kent and Younis Tsouli, 22, from West London, were charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion. The third man, Tariq al-Daour, 19, was charged with fundraising offences under the Terrorism Act. So far, the three men have been remanded in custody, and their trials have not been completed.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 3, 2006 3:50 PM
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