AID: Kemal Ademovic Replaced Bakir Alispahic
PRESSTWRA agency
AID: KEMAL ADEMOVIC REPLACED BAKIR ALISPAHIC
Sarajevo, March 16, 1996 (Press TWRA) - At the session chaired by
E. Ganic, Presidency of Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina appointed
yesterday Kemal Ademovic new director of AID. Former AID director
Bakir Alispahic will take another position, and he was replaced
in accord with President Izetbegovic, who is at home treatment,
after leaving the hospital. Kemal Ademovic has been commander of
Bosnia's Police Special Unit, and is not experienced in the field
of intelligence, which is quintessence of AID's activities.
The following is the text by John Pomfret (Washington Post
Foreign Service), written in Sarajevo two days ago, published in
yesterday's issue of "The Washington Post":
>>For some time now, U.S. officials have been pressing B-H
government officials to dismiss B. Alispahic, head of a shadowy
security agency with ties to secret training camps staffed by
Iranian-backed Muslim "freedom fighters". But in an Interview,
Alispahic said he has no intention to leave his post as director
of AID (the Bosnian Agency for Investigation and Documentation).
He lashed out at U.S. demands that his agency be closed, calling
the US attempt to limit Iranian influence in Bosnia "very silly".
The remarks by Alispahic, a 39-year-old war hero, considered one
of President Alija Izetbegovic's top aides, offered a glimpse of
a side of the B-H government that is rarely seen. Some elements
in the government welcome Bosnia's developing relationship with
Iran and resent U.S. attempts to rid Bosnia of Iranian influence.
In the interview, conducted in a quiet office in the Interior
Ministry's, Alispahic accused the US government of trying to
establish a client state in the Balkans to block the growing
influence of Iran in this mostly Muslim land. "Bosnia is probably
the only country where the interests of the USA and Iran collide"
Alispahic said. "There is an American idea to remove Iranian
influence here. This is what they try to do by attacking me".
Alispahic confirmed that his organization ran a site near
the town of Fojnica that NATO forces raided on Feb. 15 and called
a terrorist training camp. Furthermore, Alispahic contended that
Izetbegovic knew about the camp - despite reportedly having
denied any knowledge of it in a phone conversation with Secretary
General of NATO, Javier Solana on the morning before the raid.
U.S., Turkish and other officials are set to meet in Ankara
Friday to discuss a multimillion-dollar plan to equip & train B-H
army. U.S. officials have said Alispahic's removal from his post
and shutdown of his security agency are among the conditions for
starting the assistance. Alispahic's criticism of U.S. policy in
Bosnia underscored his enduring influence on the government of
Izetbegovic, who left the hospital today. Some officials alleged
Alispahic's durability illustrates the growing influence of Iran
on B-H internal affairs - though Alispahic disputed contentions
from some Western diplomats that he is "Iran's man". Others see
Alispahic's continued presence as a sign that Izetbegovic is not
sure whether he can trust the West to support his country - after
years of empty promises from Washington & other Western capitals.
"It is tragicomedy that a big, serious country like the USA
makes so much noise out of this" Alispahic said on concerns over
Bosnia's relations with Iran. He called US actions in B-H "very
silly" and characterized NATO's raid on the training center as
"in bad taste". Alispahic added he was "insulted" by US attempts
to remove him from his post and called the US ultimatum "unjust
intervention in the internal affairs of our state". During Rome
summit last month, US officials demanded that Alispahic and his
deputy Nedzad Ugljen be ousted from their posts. US officials say
they demanded Alispahic's removal following the NATO raid on the
Fojnica training camp, when NATO officers captured three men from
the Iranian Interior Ministry, along with many weapons, explosive
devices, including booby-trapped toys & plastic ice cream cones.
NATO officials have said the presence of the camp angered
them for two reasons. The first is that under the Dayton accords,
all foreign forces were supposed to have left Bosnia by Jan 19.
The second is that, according to NATO officials, the camp was a
terrorist training center - an allegation that Alispahic denied.
US officials have said the B-H Govt.'s failure to remove
Alispahic marked one of the most serious "bumps in the road" in
the process of implementing peace in Bosnia. In an interview last
week, Bosnia's acting president, Ejup Ganic, said no personnel
changes had been made. Today, Alispahic appeared to be firmly in
control of his agency. US officials have consistently avoided to
blame Izetbegovic for allowing the camps to remain in Bosnia past
the Dayton deadline and have sought to focus the responsibility
on Alispahic instead. But Alispahic's assertion that Izetbegovic
knew about the camps complicates the situation. A spokesman for
Izetbegovic rejected a request to interview the president.
AID was set up by an act of Bosnia's collective presidency
on Jan. 12 and is alleged by critics as violation of the Dayton
accords. According to Alispahic, the organization is in charge of
investigating and capturing war criminals, protecting Bosnia's
constitution, and fighting terrorism, international crime and
drug trafficking. But under the Dayton agreement, Bosnia's weak
collective presidency does not have the power to undertake police
functions. Those duties, in this case would be the responsibility
of the federation of Muslims & Croats that the accord tasks with
running the non-Serb half of the country. K. Zubak, president of
the federation and a Croat, contended in an interview that he has
no power over Alispahic's agency and that protests due to its
establishment have gone unheeded. "We can only assume that it is
secret organization set up to help Izetbegovic's political party,
not the state" he said. "It is throwback to our Communist past".
In the interview, Alispahic, who belongs to Izetbegovic's
Party of Democratic Action, denied that the Agency is "some kind
of political police". "That simply is not true" he said.<<
Sarajevo - Bosnian media claim the BH authorities had agreed
with IFOR ground troops commander M. Walker to close the training
camps with foreign instructors till Feb 16, but the USA invaded
the Fojnica camp a day before the deadline, so to get a tool of
pressure on Sarajevo before the Rome summit to accept concessions
to Croatian demands regarding Mostar. (end) A.S. ## CrossPoint v3.02 ##