FORMER BH INTERIOR MINISTER SUSPECTED OF ESPIONAGE & TERRORISM

SARAJEVO, April 16 (Hina) - A former principle of the Bosnian secret service and one-time interior minister, Bakir Alispahic, is suspected, along with two other associates, of espionage and terrorism, as well as unlawful collaboration with Iranian intelligence agents, the national television in the Bosnian Federation (FTV) reported on Monday. #L# FTV reported that criminal charges had been filed against Alispahic, Irfan Ljevakovic and Enver Mujezinovic following an in- depth investigation into the activities of a terrorist training headquarters in Pogorelici in central Bosnia that was discovered by NATO peace keeping forces in Bosnia (IFOR) in 1996 and later closed down. Alispahic, as the head in the Agency for Investigation and Documentation (AID) at the time, is suspected of allowing the establishment and running of the camp where members of AID and police were trained for terrorist attacks by Iranian intelligence agents with the probable aim of eliminating any opposition to the government in Sarajevo. The investigation showed that Alispahic was directly assisted by Ljevakovic, his assistant at the time in AID. When the NATO action discovered the camp, Mujezinovic, who headed AID's Sarajevo department, took part in covering up the identity of the people involved with the camp in Pogorelici, including issuance of false identification documents. For years, Alispahic was allegedly untouchable as a close associate of former Bosnian Presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic. He was forced to resign from his office under pressure from the US government after he had been connected to Iranian intelligence services. In the past two months, Sarajevo media have been reporting that the new principle of AID, Munir Alibabic, initiated a complete investigation with the aim of uncovering everything the secret service had been involved with in the past, as well as any liability by the agency's chief agents. (hina) sp sb