SARAJEVO, Sept 21 (Hina) - Tunisian Mehrez Amdouni, an Islamist terrorist apprehended by police in Istanbul on September 9 this year, has been a citizenship of Bosnia-Herzegovina since December 23, 1997, the Sarajevo-based
"Oslobodjenje" daily read on Tuesday. The Bosnian ministry for civilian affairs and communications confirmed that Amdouni, who is believed to be a close associate of a notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden, submitted his request for being granted Bosnia's citizenship on 18 December 1997. It took just five days before he received the positive answer. The ministry issued a statement saying that this 30-year-old Tunisian had fulfilled criteria from Article 9 of the then valid citizenship act of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Amdouni was a member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Army from the beginning of May 1993 to 5 May of 1995 and when he applied for the citizenship he had allegedly a full-time j
SARAJEVO, Sept 21 (Hina) - Tunisian Mehrez Amdouni, an Islamist
terrorist apprehended by police in Istanbul on September 9 this
year, has been a citizenship of Bosnia-Herzegovina since December
23, 1997, the Sarajevo-based "Oslobodjenje" daily read on
Tuesday.
The Bosnian ministry for civilian affairs and communications
confirmed that Amdouni, who is believed to be a close associate of a
notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden, submitted his request for
being granted Bosnia's citizenship on 18 December 1997. It took
just five days before he received the positive answer.
The ministry issued a statement saying that this 30-year-old
Tunisian had fulfilled criteria from Article 9 of the then valid
citizenship act of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Amdouni was a member of
Bosnia-Herzegovina's Army from the beginning of May 1993 to 5 May of
1995 and when he applied for the citizenship he had allegedly a
full-time job.
In addition, he gave a statement on his "loyalty to and the respect
of the Constitution, laws and other acts of Bosnia-Herzegovina as
well as on the preservation of its reputation in the international
community," the civilian affairs ministry said.
At the time when Amdouni submitted his citizenship request, no
information on his criminal record was available to responsible
authorities in Bosnia.
Although this Tunisian has been wanted by western countries' police
for two years, he again managed to get a new passport of Bosnia-
Herzegovina which began to be issued in 1998.
After he left Bosnia in 1996 this terrorist was arrested by police
in Italy where he was active as a member of a terrorist group that
was planning bomb attacks for the time of 1998 World Soccer
Championships in France. He managed to escape prison under
unexplained circumstances.
According to newspapers' allegations, Amdouni was hiding in Bosnia
from his escape from Italy until his arrest in Turkey.
The civilian affairs ministry announced that the decision on
Amdouni's citizenship would be revised but it gives no answer how
come that such a terrorist like Amdouni can obtain travel papers of
some country.
According the article in Oslobodjenje, during the war and in its
wake Bosnian passports were relatively "cheap good" paid in cash or
given as a favour in return for the military or humanitarian
engagement for the Bosnian army.
The Bosnian Federation's Interior Ministry said on Monday that at
the request of the Turkish department it would examine
circumstances under which the Bosnian passport had been issued for
Amdouni.
The interior minister Marko Asanin has previously said that this
Tunisian neither had asked for the citizenship nor received it via
this ministry which has exclusively the jurisdiction to solve such
issues in line with the Dayton agreements.
(hina) jn ms