Bosnia prosecutors said Thursday they were investigating local officials suspected of having granted citizenships to hundreds of Islamic fighters during the 1992-95 war.
"It had already been established that some citizenships were granted illegally, but we are looking for elements of criminal responsibility" among officials, said Boris Grubesic, a spokesman for the state prosecutors' office. "We are looking into officials who worked in relevant institutions at the time when these citizenships were being granted," Grubesic told AFP.
Due to the irregularities, a specially established state commission revoked the citizenship last year of hundreds of foreigners including a number of Muslim former fighters in Bosnia's war. One of them, Algerian Atau Mimun had already been deported from Bosnia last December. Officials said at the time that Mimun was suspected of links to militant groups.
Bosnia came under the spotlight after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. due to the presence of former fighters from Islamic countries. Although they were ordered to leave under the terms of the Dayton peace accords, some stayed on after obtaining citizenship.
In 2007, Bosnia jailed three Muslims found guilty of intending to carry out an attack in Bosnia or another European country with the aim of forcing the withdrawal of Western troops from Iraq or Afghanistan. |