Developments on Balkan Islamic terrorism , by Ioannis Michaletos

The article was originally presented on May 2008 (International Analyst Network) The previous days witnessed a series of revelations and developments regarding the spread of Islamic terrorists in the Balkans, many of those active for the better part of the last decade and virtually untouched by the authorities up to date.

The Italian daily “La Stampa” which monitors regularly the security concerns in the region, made some notable reports on certain Bosnia Muslim personalities and the role in contraband arms trade to Europe, presumably to arm extremist organizations there. Vladimir Popilovski runs an al-Qaeda ratline of arms from Bosnia across Sava River into Croatia and henceforth to Europe and Kemal Alagic, Naser Panaslamovic and Omer Murselovic run the same thing on the western side of Bosnia. All of those were active during the Bosnia civil war between 1992 and 1995.

Οι Λίβυοι Ισλαμιστές και οι κίνδυνοι για την Ελλάδα, του Ανδρέα Μπανούτσου

Ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος στη Λιβύη και η απόφαση 1973 του Συμβουλίου Ασφαλείας του Ο.Η.Ε που οδήγησε στη συμμαχική επιχείρηση “ Αυγή της Οδύσσειας” για την επιβολή ζώνης απαγόρευσης πτήσεων στη Λιβύη έχουν δημιουργήσει νέα δεδομένα ασφαλείας στη περιοχή της Νοτιοανατολικής Μεσογείου που αναμφίβολα θα επηρεάσουν και την ασφάλεια της Ελλάδος. Μία παράμετρο σε σχέση με την εμπόλεμη κατάσταση στη Λιβύη που αγνοούν επιδεικτικά τα εγχώρια ΜΜΕ είναι η Ισλαμιστική. Πριν τον σημερινό εμφύλιο πόλεμο η Λιβυκή Ισλαμική Μαχόμενη Ομάδα ( Libyan Islamic Fighting Group-LIFG) και η Λιβυκή Ισλαμιστική αντιπολίτευση αποτελούσαν τη μεγαλύτερη πρόκληση για το καθεστώς Καντάφι. Το LIFG σχηματίστηκε στα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1990 από τους βετεράνους της Τζιχάντ εναντίον των Σοβιετικών στο Αφγανιστάν.

An outlook of radical Islamism in Bosnia, by Ioannis Michaletos

An outlook of radical Islamism in Bosnia

(First edited at: 25th Sept. 2010)

Information available to experts on international terrorism indicate that Bosnia Herzegovina is presently one of the epicentres of extremist Islamic circles in Europe, as it represents a hub for potential Islamic terrorists – the so called “white” or “European” Al-Qaeda .

Money from Islamic countries that is laundered through “humanitarian” organizations finances the religious education of at least 100,000 young Bosnian Muslims. In addition to such education, which follows the interpretations of Wahhabi Islam, there is another type of “training” in various officially registered camps throughout the B-H Federation. There, the young and carefully selected Wahhabis attend “additional courses” in marksmanship, explosives and martial arts.

Iran’s soft power reach in the Balkans, by Ioannis Michaletos

Since the early 90′s and the Yugoslavian civil wars, Iran tried to enter the Balkan region by establishing religious-educational organizations, NGO’s and by forming cells for intelligence gathering.

Due to the pressure either by NATO or the EU, as well as, the efforts by the countries involved, the Iranian influence has rather decreased, but it remains in the form of a “soft power” structure, closely related to the state apparatus of Teheran.

The Muslim Brotherhood and Greece, by Andreas Banoutsos

The Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen) is a transnational Islamist movement which was founded in Egypt in 1928 by the Islamist scholar Hassan al-Banna. (1) The movement differs from more militant Islamist organizations like Al Qaeda only in tactics not in its goals. Both movements seek to create a Pan-Islamic state, better known as the Caliphate and impose the Shariah law.

The Al- Ikhwan motto is telling: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”(2) The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is by definition a radical movement since it is supporting far reaching changes in society which may constitute a threat to the democratic legal order of a liberal democracy. Although it denounces violence as a mean to achieve its goals, it still poses a long term threat to the democratic legal order of Western democracies because of its radical agenda.

White Al Qaeda in Kosovo

Serbian terrorism expert, Darko Trifunovc, says that the Kosovo Albanian who killed 2 US soldiers in Germany is part of the “white” al-Qaeda being recruited in the Balkans with its center being in Kosovo. The Albanian terrorist, Arif Uka, hails from the town of Kosovska Mitrovica which also happens to be the recruitment center for “white” al-Qaeda that is managed by former Kosovo Albanian KLA gunmen and financed by the Saudis. says another expert, Zoran Dragisic.

Uka’s grandfather was a Muslim Imam in the village of Zabar.“White” al-Qaeda is a reference to a Muslim terrorist like the Albanian Uka who has European racial features and can easily blend in the Western society as a sleeper terrorist cell.

Radical Islamic subversion in Greece by Ioannis Michaletos

A well known hypothesis in the European and American security circles is that the region of Southeastern Europe, including the Eurozone country Greece, is on the verge of a full-scale radical Islamic subversion process which is being facilitated by myriad Islamic-originating groups aiming to gain a strong foothold in Europe.

A recent revelation by the infamous Wiki leaks US Dept of State telegrams, showed that already since 2009, the ex-Ambassador of US in Athens, Mr. Daniel Speckhard, has noted the danger of the creation of extremist Islamic cells in Greece and the use of the country as a traverse point of terrorists from the Middle East to other European countries. In a special report by the French daily “Le Figaro”, on the 21st of December 2010, the case of the route of Islamic terrorists from Lebanon to Europe was noted with significant details.