- Title: BOSNIA: Muslim ex-fighters in Bosnia protest deportations
- Date: 2nd February 2008
- Summary: (EU) ZENIEA, BOSNIA (FEBRUARY 02, 2008) (REUTERS) SYRIAN-BORN IMAD AL HUSAYN (KNOWN AS ABU HAMZA), ORGANISER OF THE FIGHTERS PROTEST AND WHO TOOK PART IN THE BOSNIAN WAR BEING GREETED BY SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IMAD AL HUSAYN, SYRIAN BORN FIGHTER AND PROTEST ORGANISER SAYING: "Here you can see all the people come. This, that our brother and all the soldier in Bos
- Embargoed: 17th February 2008 12:00
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- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAESHEX80SKAW9UQ3J5ZJV9GNDU
- Story Text: Several thousand Muslim ex-fighters and their supporters protest against a Bosnian government plan to start deporting thousands of fighters from the Middle East and Africa who arrived in Bosnia to fight alongside Bosnian Muslims against Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats in the 1992-95 war.
Several thousand Muslim ex-fighters and their supporters protested on Saturday (February 2) against a Bosnian government plan to start deporting foreign volunteers who stayed in the country after the 1992-95 war.
Thousands of fighters from the Middle East and Africa arrived in Bosnia to fight alongside Bosnian Muslims against Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats.
Most left after the war but hundreds stayed on after marrying local women.
The protest was organised under the slogan "Forgive Us, Hamza" in the central town of Zenica, where most of the ex-mujahideen live, ahead of the expected deportation next week of their informal leader Imad Al Husayn, known as Abu Hamza.
"Here you can see all the people come. This, that our brother and all the soldier in Bosnian army come to say we are with you Abu Hamza. And I thanks everybody. Everyone who come today to say no to deportation," said Imad Al Husayn after greeting his supporters taking part in the protest.
Former fighters and their Bosnian wartime comrades spoke of courage on the battlefields and the hypocrisy of authorities who now wanted to get rid of them under pressure from the West.
With the encouragement of its ally the United States, Bosnia has revoked over the past two years more than 600 of the 1,300 citizenships awarded to foreigners from a wide range of countries during and after the war.
Most are expected to appeal and may be allowed to remain, but dozens are set to be deported because the government has said they represent threats to national security. The first ex-fighter, Algerian-born Atau Mimun, was deported in December.
Many Bosnians of all faiths view volunteers who live in strict Islamic communities with suspicion, fearing they want to impose their strict religious practices on the traditionally moderate Bosnian Muslims.
Hamza, who has a Bosnian wife and six children, must leave by Wednesday or face forced deportation.
Authorities call him a threat to national security, a label he said might cause him much harm once he returns to his native Syria, where he may be tried for fighting in a foreign country.
Human rights groups called on Bosnia last year not to deport ex-fighters if they may face rights abuses. The European Court for Human Rights issued a ban this week on Hamza's deportation until the Constitutional Court can rule on his new appeal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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