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Kosovars vanish abroad to join the jihad
[RFE/RL] In 2014, Alejhim Maliqi told his family he had received a scholarship to study at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Then he packed up his wife and two young children and left the country. Never to be seen or heard from again.The silence raised suspicions among relatives that he was fighting in Syria. Those fears were given substance when authorities in Kosovo issued an international arrest warrant for his arrest last May. The government estimates that Alejhim Maliqi is among more than 300 people from Kosovo who have gone to fight in the Middle East, making this country the biggest contributor per capita in Europe. Around 50 homegrown jihadis have been killed in fighting in Syria and Iraq, while 120 more have returned to Kosovo. His uncle says Alejhim's radicalization begam after he finished elementary school and enrolled in a madrasah in Gjilan. He was forced to go to the madrasah because the family couldn't afford to send him to high school. The madrasah was free and Alejhim was given a room in the dormitory and money for expenses and clothes. The madrasah was run by Zeqirja Qazimi, a notorious imam who recieved a 10-year jail sentence on May 20 for trying to gather young recruits and for fighting for militants from Daesh. Under a new law, Kosovo can jail citizens for up to 15 years if they participate in foreign wars. But few have been charged and many have been released. Dozens of secretive charity organizations and madrasahs funded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states operate throughout the country. They have penetrated poor, rural communities like Busavate that go neglected by the government and where unemployment can top 50 percent. Posted by: ryuge 2016-07-25 |
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