After information was published that the Saudi Arabian police believe Al-Hiyari to be one of the leaders of al-Qaida's branch in that country and to be involved in a number of terrorist acts, the Bosnian ministry of civil affairs stated that Al-Hiyari was granted citizenship in 1996 on the basis of a document confirming that during the war in Bosnia he fought in Bosnian army units.
The Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina Television network (FTV) reported that Al-Hiyari was issued with the document by Nezim Halilovic aka Muderis, one of the war-time commanders of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina, now imam of the King Fahd mosque in Sarajevo.
According to information available to Bosnian authorities, the suspected terrorist also had Kuwaiti citizenship at the time he applied for Bosnian citizenship.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said there was no evidence that Al-Hiyari was issued with a new passport and ID card, which could not be obtained without additional inspection into citizenship certificates issued during the war.
The ministry recalled that the legal status of people granted citizenship during the war was still undefined and that the Office of the High Representative should decide whether they should be stripped of Bosnian citizenship.
According to media reports, the Saudi Arabian authorities believe that Al-Hiyari entered Saudi Arabia with a Bosnian passport and that his wife, a Bosnian citizen, and their child arrived with him.
The FENA news agency quoted Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Bosnia Fahal Al-Zeid as saying that information about the case was still being collected.
According to the media, Al-Hiyari entered Saudi Arabia as a pilgrim in 2001.