Bosnia and the Islamic Jihad In Europe

Cover of Jürgen Elsässer's book "Wie der Dschihad nach Europa kam. Gotteskrieger und Geheimdienste auf dem Balkan" (How Jihad came into Europe. Holy Warriors and Secret Services on the Balkans"), published by NP-Buchverlag, 243 p., 19.90 Euro (ISBN: 3-85326-376-3)

Jürgen Elsässer is the author of 12 books, 5 of which deal with the Balkans. He'll contribute his expertise at the May conference on Islamic terror influence in the Balkans.

While the mainstream press and standard literature about al-Qaeda describe the activities of the terrorists on all other continents at length, the Jihadists' European deployment area has been largely ignored.

In particular in the Bosnian civil war, several thousand Muslims from Arabic countries and Iran fought alongside their Muslim brethren against the Christians, i.e. Croats and Serbs. As in the 80s in Afghanistan, the US Administration did a deal with the devil: in violation of the UNarms embargo, Washington supplied the holy warriors with sophisticated weaponry.

Five of the hijackers that took part in 9/11 attacks are Bosnian veterans who did their Islamic tour of duty fighting Jihad against the Christians.

Jürgen Elsässer’s book, How Jihad came into Europe: Holy Warriors and Secret Services on the Balkans, is the latest look at the al-Qaeda in the Balkans and the secret network of CIA spies in bed with Jihadists. That Bosnian Muslims are neck-deep implicated in the world wide terror web is well documented by the author but the most stunning claim that Elsässer makes is that some of the 9/11 hijackers might have been on the CIA payroll while doing their bloody stint in Bosnia.

Jürgen Elsässer is a German author with an extensive book collection to his name. He will be among the panelists in Podgorica in May this year, debating the topic of Islamic terrorist influence in the Balkans. His latest book is in German-language print and hopefully may soon be available for the English speaking audience. The author was gracious to provide us with an interview.

I have been writing about the Balkans since 1991 and it is the focus of my journalist activity. Eight of my twelve books deal with the Balkans and the reason is clear: United Germany tried its new muscle in South-East-Europe, in crushing Yugoslavia. So critical journalism in Germany "automatically" followed this policy.

Referring to the Balkan hostilities the then Secretary of State James Baker said in 1989 that the US has “no dog in this fight”. What changed all that 2 years later?

Much like his son now, Bush senior was not very much interested in the Balkans but more in the Middle East. This lack of American interest enabled Germany 1990/91 to create a zone of exclusive influence with Croatia and Slovenia as stronghold. When Washington realized what was going on they tried to counter Serbian influence and German influence by supporting the "third" party, the Muslims.

You unequivocally state that Osama bin Laden received a passport from Bosnian government. Media seems to discount that. Who’s correct?

That Osama Bin Laden got a passport was documented in 1999 by DANI, a Muslim weekly from Sarajevo. Later in 2001, Zurich "Wochenzeitung" got “more and more evidence" from Interpol that bin Laden had a Bosnian passport, in spite of Sarajevo denying it.

You state “Bin Laden himself discussed the details with the Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic”. What’s the evidence of this personal friendship?

Not friendship, but alliance of interest. Renate Flottau, Spiegel-correspondent for the Balkans, saw Bin Laden 1993/94 at least two times WITH HER OWN EYES in Izetbegovic's palace and even spoke with him. She confirmed it to me personally. She said Izetbegovic didn't like Bin Laden, but needed him.

We see Turkey being used to deliver arms, Iran for buying them, al-Qaeda for providing fighters and Saudis for funding this via its “charitable” organizations. What got these Muslim countries, professing at times antagonism for one another, to come together on Bosnia?

It was not formal alliance, more improvisation. Sudan/Sudan did most of the smuggling 1992, 1994 Iran took over. Turkey helped with infrastructure, airports in Cyprus and in Anatolia were important as basis for the smuggling. Yossef Bodansky, an Anti-Terrorist-expert at the US Senate, found evidence that Sudanese leader Al Turabi, ObL's host, built close ties between Teheran’s secret service and Bin Laden, despite his religious differences between them.

After Dayton in 1995, we see Chechnya war start, then Kosovo, then Macedonia then 9/11. What’s common to all 5 of these events is Islamic militants and al-Qaeda. Is there a global coordination of these events and if so what’s the goal?

The spider in the net is MPRI, a subcontractor of the Pentagon. They took over the Arab/Iranian weapons-smuggling in 1995, helped the Mujahadeen to "liberate" Sarajevo in September 1995, took the best Mujahadeen fighters after Dayton on their own payroll, trained them with the help of Turkish army and sent them to Kosovo and later to Macedonia. I could not fin a link between Chechnya and MPRI, but Aukai Collins, an American Mujahadeen, who fought in Chechnya and had contacts with some of the 9/11 bombers, was at least on the payroll of FBI and CIA. Not Al Qaeda is in the center of all these events, but American secret services, which used Al Qaeda.

Two of the 9/11 hijackers were veteran jihadists in Bosnia. What did they do in Bosnia that made them so exceptionally qualified to kill Americans?

Not two, but five: Al Hazmi and Al Midhar (Plane Nr.3/Pentagon), Mohammed Atta (Plane Nr. 1/WTC) and the "Masterminds" Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohamed. Al Hazmi and Al Midhar were from Jan. 2000 until 9/11 under surveillance of US-Secret Services as was Atta's flat in Hamburg-Harburg. Binalshibh and Sheikh Mohamed are in US-custody since their arrest in 2002/2003 and are the main witnesses for the Pentagon-Version of 9/11, voluntarily or involuntarily they also work for US-interests. These people killed 3000 people, mostly Americans, but it is likely that they also worked for US secret services.

Is there an al-Qaeda link with the Kosovo Albanian KLA army and if so what is the evidence?

MPRI sent 80 – 120 Mujahadeen into Kosovo to help KLA. This is proven. ObL's own attempts to smuggle men into Kosovo failed. Originally, KLA had a rather weak Muslim influence. KLA are bunch of criminals with a great Albanian nationalist agenda. There's one exception: KLA-Commander Honda (Same din Thesauri), who praised himself (in German TV!) as coordinator for the pogroms around Prizren in March 2004. NATO sees him as confident of Bin Laden, but he himself says he has worked for CIA and BND. Another guy with double loyalty is the KLA-successor, so called ANA that is now split into several factions. One branch works with Al Qaeda, and the other is against this alliance.

Who in today’s Muslim governments in Bosnia and Kosovo have had or have al-Qaeda links?

The governing SDA-Party sponsors fundamentalist youth organizations, which train people for Jihad. Mudjahedin who stayed in Bosnia after Dayton are at the core of the training. Most important is Aktivna Islamska Omladina (AIO) with string Wahhabi influences, training terrorist techniques in so called youth camps during holidays.

Your book details how Pentagon contractor MPRI trained Bosnian and Kosovo Albanian KLA army. Dyn Corp who recently got their bid to buy Belgrade airport approved owns MPRI. Some see conspiracy here. Is there one?

Private companies form a Corporate Military Monster ("Mother Jones"), who does the dirty jobs for US foreign policy all over the world. Is this conspiracy? Some call it simply outsourcing.

"the the atrocity-laden wars in which he led the Serbs against their neighbors."
This is a historically inaccurate statement. Milosevic was not the leader of just the Serbs. He was the leader of the whole nation of Yugoslavia and its varied religious groups. His army responded to a secession attempt by Slovenia (urged by the Germans) and was attacked in Zagreb by Croats. Later, there were non-government affiliated Serb gangs attacking Croats, Bosnians, Kosovars, just as there were Bosnian, Croat and Kosovar gangs attacking others for their religion and territory.
Milosevich had every right to use the national army to try to keep the country together and fight external and domestic attempts to split the country.
As usual, outside nations interfered, leaving us with a situation that will again lead to war. It also leaves Europe with more of its land mass under Islamic domination.
On that last point, it serves the Germans right. The law of unintended consequences, indeed.
Actually, I'm guilty of falling into a MSM trick here, calling Albanians Kosovars, because the Kosovars were Serbs until the Albanians snuck over the border en masse and killed so many Serbs, prior to the Civil War.

Thought you might be interested in this, not sure if you have seen it already:

Detonating Fuses Used in Madrid Attacks Were Produced in Bosnia

10 May 2005 | 20:01 | FOCUS News Agency

Banja Luka. The detonating fuses, which were used in the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11th, 2004, were produced in Bosnia, AFP reported citing FENA Agency. “We have information that the detonating fuses were made in Bosnia”, chief of Bosnian police Dragomir Adnan told FENA Agency. In his words, the terrorist suspects passed across Bosnia, but he did not mention more details.

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=135&newsid=63576&ch=0&datte=2005-05-10

More on the Madrid Bosnia link:

Madrid Bombers Trained at Bosnia-Based Al Qaeda Camps

Politics: 10 May 2005, Tuesday.

The terrorists that carried out the Madrid bombings in March 2004 have been trained at special Al Qaeda based in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The news was broken Tuesday by the chief of the local police department Dragomir Andan at a special press conference. RIA Novosti cited the top police chief as saying that all 11 terrorists left for Spain passing through Sarajevo.

It was also reported that the explosives used in the terror acts were produced in Bosnia.

A total of 192 people were killed and over 1,500 others were injured in the March 11, 2004 attacks in Madrid.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=47563

That's a tough one because Milosevic was never a Serb patriot but a reformed Yugoslav Communist. When Yugo began breaking up into nationalist enclaves, he did what any astute politico would do - he changed stripes and began waving the Serb flag.

He defintiely was not the blood-lusting maniac the US press made him out to be. Hell, he wore business suits, didn't live in a palace and actually stepped down without calling out the hounds on protestors. Quite un-Saddam like.

The Serbs who should have been supported by the West lived in Bosnia and Krajina. They were patriots, outnumbered and alone, who refused to accept minority status in newly created countries ruled by Islamic extremists.

Their leader was Radovan Karadzic - who was never a threat to the West, the US, American homes or American soldiers - ever.

They simply refused to be forced to live under Islamic rule - no different than 99.9% of all Americans and Canadians would choose to also do.

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