BBC Monitoring has reported on comments made by Bosnian Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric to a Sarajevo newspaper in which he labeled Islamaphobic and genocidal claims by a U.S. diplomat linking Bosnia and Al-Qaeda. According to the reports, the diplomat had cited intelligence sources as saying that Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the Al-Qaeda’s transit points and that there are Bosnian sympathizers prepared to provide Al Qaeda with logistical help such as hiding agents, providing financial support or providing false documents. Even though the diplomat had qualified his remarks by estimating the number of such persons at “around 10 to 100, in contrast to Serb estimates of “thousands.”, Dr. Ceric reportedly stated in response:
It is a sin and immoral to link Bosnian Muslims with terrorist organizations…Such statements give us grounds to fear that this is an introduction for the next act of genocide against our people,” Ceric told believers who gathered in the south-eastern town of Nevesinje for the ceremony of opening a reconstructed mosque. In his strong-worded address, Ceric said that the same language had been used about Jews before the Holocaust was committed.The Islamic leader also said that “if there are Al-Qa’idah helpers in Bosnia- Hercegovina, it is the Office of the High Representative and NATO that are responsible for their existence.
Dr. Ceric is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood through his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) headed by Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi. The global Muslim Brotherhood frequently introduces the subject of Jews and Judaism in response to perceived criticism as well as categorizing criticism as “Islamaphobia.”
(source: BBC Monitoring International Reports August 19, 2007 Sunday “BOSNIAN GRAND MUFTI ACCUSES OHR OFFICIAL OF SPREADING ISLAMOPHOBIA” Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA