Byzantine Blog

Behold Your Allies: White al-Qaeda Snake Pits — Bosnia and Kosovo

Arrested Kosovo Albanian is al-Qaeda Member from the Most Wanted Terror List

January 17, 2007, Austria — Albanian Muslim from Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija that was arrested last month by the Austrian authorities at a Vienna Schwechat International Airport is a sought out intermediary for terror organizations across Europe and is in service of al-Qaeda, says Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.

Dodu Ljucaj is a 55 year old Kosovo Albanian with terrorist experience acquired during terror attacks on Kosovo Serbs in the 1990s. In December of 2007, he was to detonate two bombs inside Montenegro parliament in a plot that involves 12 other Albanian Muslims, some of them US citizens.

As the bombing plot folded, 12 Albanian Muslims in Montenegro have been arrested, while Dodu Ljucaj managed to escape Montenegro and on a connecting flight in Vienna was arrested by the Austrian authorities. Kronen Zeitung says that terrorist Dodu Ljucaj was on a trip to the USA.

“Outwardly Dodu Ljucaj was calm... the more thorough examination caused the man to react suddenly nervous. To the policemen it became clear why: The 55-year old was on the terror list of the most wanted!” writes Kronen Zeitung.

“Around Dodu Ljucaj is a rope pulling him between USA and Montenegro. According to insiders this bomber is in demand intermediary for terror organizations — such as the deliverers of messages for entire Europe,” writes Kronen.

According to Kronen Zeitung, Dodu Ljucaj was an al-Qaeda member who was recruited, with promises of money, to be a “mole” for the CIA inside al-Qaeda. Kronen Zeitung is not clear whether the Kosovo Albanian was a “mole” inside al-Qaeda operation in southern Serbian province of Kosovo or throughout Europe.

“This explains also why the US Government wants to absolutely prevent his extradition to Montenegro,” concluded Kronen Zeitung.

Attempt at Fixing Some of the Bosnian War Blunders: Citizenships to Imported Bosnian Jihadists Revoked

January 15, 2007, Bosnia (Sources: Finacial Times, Tanjug) — Under pressure, Bosnia is revoking citizenship Alija Izetbegovic’s Islamic regime granted to thousands of foreign Muslim jihadists who came to the country to fight the Serbs in the civil wars that tore former Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s. Many of the Jihadists have stayed in Bosnia after the war, taking up residence in apartments and houses of Christian Serbs ethnically cleansed by the Muslims and married local Bosnian Muslim women.

The announcement that the first batch of passports had been canceled coincided last week with the decision of a Bosnian court to convict four men of planning a bomb attack on an unspecified European target.

“So far we have revoked 330 citizenships,” said Vjekoslav Vukovic, the head of a commission established to review the granting of about 1,500 passports since 1991.

“The majority of them are from African and Asian countries,” Mr. Vukovic said of the people whose citizenship had been revoked, adding that some 500 cases were still pending.

Previous U.S. Administration, CIA Actively Helped Foreign Mujahedeen’s Infiltration in the Balkans

With the tacit approval of Clinton administration and the U.S. State Department, thousands of Muslim jihadists arrived in Bosnia to fight as mujahideen, or “holy warriors,” during a 1991-1995 war of Bosnian Islamists against Serbs. Many obtained citizenships afterwards by marrying local women or as a reward for their “service” to the Bosnian Muslim jihadists. The worst atrocities against Christians have been committed by these foreign fighters and not a single one has been indicted by the Hague court.

Bosnia has come under suspicion in recent years as a potential base for terror cells and organizations that raise and launder money for groups linked to al-Qaeda.

Last week, two Bosnians, a Swede and a Turkish man were convicted of preparing a terrorist attack against a European target, with the intention of forcing western troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan [see below]. A fifth man was jailed last May after admitting involvement in the same plot.

Six Algerians were arrested in Bosnia in late 2001, on suspicion of planning attacks on the country’s US and British embassies. They have been held in the US-run Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba since early in 2002.

Biting the Hand that Feeds: White Al-Qaeda Organizes Terrorist Attacks on their Western Allies

Jan. 10, 2007, Bosnia — Four men were convicted Wednesday of plotting to blow up an unidentified European target and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, court officials said.

Prosecutors said the four men, two Bosnians, a Swede and a Turkish citizen, were preparing to launch a terror attack a European country to force to pull foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The exact target of the plot remains unclear.

Police found a “suicide belt” rigged with a powerful homemade explosive device; pistols; ammunition and a videotape outlining how to build a bomb when they raided a Sarajevo apartment in late 2005, prosecutors said.

Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, a Swedish citizen of Bosnian Muslim origin, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Abdulkadir Cesur, 18, a Turk who had been living in Denmark, was sentenced to 13 years for planning a terrorist act, court officials said.

Bosnian Muslim Bajro Ikanovic, 30, was sentenced to eight years for supplying them with explosives. The fourth defendant, Senad Hasanovic, also a Bosnian Muslim, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for illegal possession of weapons and explosives. Both are Bosnian citizens.

A fifth suspect, Bosnian Amir Bajric, pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced in July to two years in prison for helping the group to purchase explosives.

The five were arrested in late 2005 following the raid on an apartment occupied by Bektasevic and Cesur.

The suspects planned “to commit a terrorist act on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina or some other European country” to force United States and other Western countries to pull their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, prosecutor said during a May hearing at Bosnia’s State Court.

Dispatch to Balkan Mujahedeens: “Attack Those Who Are Killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan!”

The videotape included a voiceover saying: “Brothers are preparing for an attack here. They are showing you the things they will use in the attack. ... These brothers will attack ... those who are killing our brothers and Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The voiceover said the attack was aimed against Europe.

Investigators have not yet managed to find out which country the men were plotting to attack and could only specify that it was a European country with soldiers were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Authorities in Denmark, Sweden and Britain have been cooperating in the investigation, officials said.

Cartoon by Nikola Otas