Bosnian Al Qaeda Connection

[Ivo Skoric]

>From www.iwpr.net
BOSNIA: AID WORKER LINKED WITH BIN LADEN

Bosnian police sources claim a recent inquiry into the activities of a
controversial aid worker reveal links with al-Qaeda leader.

By Senad Slatina in Sarajevo and Zenica

Bosnian police raids on the premises of the Islamic relief agency
Benevolence International Foundation, BIF, have allegedly provided
evidence of links between the organisation's director Enaam 
Arnaout and
the al-Qaeda network.

Arnaout was arrested in Chicago on April 30 and is currently 
awaiting
trial in the United States on perjury charges.  If convicted, he faces 
a
five-year prison term and a 250,000 US dollar fine.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations brought the perjury 
charges
after
Arnaout filed a written statement to a US court on April 5, 2002,
claiming
that BIF had "never provided aid to people or organisations known 
to be
engaged in violence, terrorist activities, or military operations of any
nature".

Arnaout was suing the US government over its December 14, 2001 
decision
to
ban the BIF - an organisation Washington claimed was engaged in 
aiding
terrorism - and freeze its assets.  The FBI claims to possess 
evidence
supporting the charges from four cooperative witnesses - including
captured al-Qaeda members - and from documents seized during 
raids on
BIF
premises in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bosnian police raided the BIF head office, warehouse and homes of
leading
members of the organisation in Sarajevo and Zenica on March 19, 
2002.
According to police sources, evidence was uncovered which 
confirms that
close links existed between Arnaout and Bin Laden in the late 
1980s and
early 1990s.  The documents included photographs of the two men 
posing
with automatic rifles, anti-aircraft guns and hand-held rocket
launchers,
possibly in Afghanistan just over a decade ago.

According to the FBI, several al-Qaeda members occupied 
important posts
in
BIF and the organisation financed the group's activities.  It also
alleges
that Arnaout enjoyed the full confidence of Bin Laden.

Following the March 19 raids, Bosnian police arrested Munib 
Zahiragic -
a
former member of the Bosnian intelligence service, AID, and BIF's 
chief
representative in Bosnia since mid 2000.  Around 100 highly 
classified
AID
documents were allegedly found in Zahiragic's office.  The papers
related
to wartime and post-war Islamic volunteers from African and Asian
countries.

The Bosnian federal supreme court has launched an inquiry and a 
warrant
has been issued for Zahiragic's arrest on espionage charges.

The FBI also claims that several telephone conversations between 
Arnaout
and Zahiragic were recorded in which the BIF boss instructs 
Zahiragic
not
to tell the police anything about their relationship.

When Zahiragic confesses he has already told police certain things,
Arnaout allegedly suggests the BIF representative should say they 
have
known each other for several years but had only been in business
together
for 18 months.

The FBI charges indicate the US authorities plan to use these 
recordings
as evidence that Arnaout has sought to obstruct criminal 
investigations.

Arnaout was born in Syria in 1962 and, according to the FBI, his 
family
later moved to Saudi Arabia where he lived until 1987.  Arnaout then
travelled to Peshawar in Pakistan where he undertook Islamic 
studies.  
It
was in Pakistan that he met a rich Saudi sheikh, Adil Abdul Galil
Batargy,
who founded BIF in the mid 1980s.

When the Saudi authorities banned the charity from working in 
Jeddah,
Arnaout registered it in the United States in March 1992 and 
became its
senior executive director.

Bosnian police claim Arnaout first came to their country in June 
1992,
opening the first BIF office in Zenica in June 1993.  In October of 
that
year, according to court papers, Arnaout was arrested on arms 
smuggling
charges during a visit to Croatia, although he later escaped from
prison.

The US media has recently pointed out weaknesses in the US 
government's
pursuit of Arnaout and his alleged links with Bin Laden in the late
1980s.

On April 7, the Los Angeles Times quoted senior US officials who 
said
the
decision to freeze the assets of several Islamic aid agencies had 
been
premature and based on little solid proof.  Many of those who work 
with
Arnaout praise his humanitarian efforts and believe the allegations
against him are utterly baseless.

"Arnaout is a modern, Western-oriented manager of a big 
organisation,"
said Alen Cosic, head of the BIF office in Zenica and the only 
member of
the charity not to be arrested after the recent raids.  "All those who
work with Arnaout know how noble a man he is."

BIF takes care of some 450 orphans in central Bosnia, providing 
them
with
an income of 70 German marks per month.  The organisation also 
organises
computer training courses, English and Arabic language classes, 
sewing
workshops and a free dental service.
Senad Slatina is a journalist of Bosnia weekly Slobodna Bosna.