HIGH TIME TO BAN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD’S ACTIVITIES

PALE, NOVEMBER 11 /SRNA/ – Security expert Dževad Galijašević says that the time has come for BiH to ban the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, which operates in the country through the Sarajevo-based Association for Education and Culture “Akos”, recently placed on Egypt’s list of terrorist entities by the Criminal Court in Cairo.

Galijašević told SRNA that “Akos” is part of the “Muslim Brotherhood” and has been placed on the list of terrorist organisations based on intelligence gathered by Egyptian services regarding the activities of the umbrella organisation known as the Muslim Brotherhood.

“For years, Egypt has been banning the Muslim Brotherhood. In BiH, the Muslim Brotherhood operates almost openly, including through ‘Akos’, which is an organisation that brings together several other organisations in the country,” Galijašević said.

He explained that Egypt had compiled information on all organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, including their communication methods, funding arrangements and mutual relations.

“Akos is, in fact, a continuation of what was once known as the Active Islamic Youth, which the Americans banned following the September 11 attacks. Therefore, Akos is not a straightforward matter,” Galijašević warned.

He said these were Islamist projects operating through the Muslim Brotherhood and through headquarters that are no longer under Egypt's influence, given that Egypt has banned the organisation in its own territory.

“Akos is a continuation of the policy pursued by the Muslim Brotherhood in BiH since the period between the First and Second World Wars, dating back to the time when Husein Đozo and Kasim Dobrača were founding organisations and eventually led Bosnian Muslims into the 13th Division, which was a military formation of the Muslim Brotherhood, and later continued through Alija Izetbegović, the Young Muslims movement and the establishment of the SDA,” Galijašević stressed.

He also warned about other organisations, some of which are included on the United Nations Security Council's list of banned organisations.

“Al-Haramain, which attacked America, has two branches in BiH. It once had a huge building in Sarajevo, which it later sold. The organisations ‘Al-Haramain Al-Aqsa’ and ‘Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation’ operated in BiH. So did ‘Taibah International’, ‘Islamic Relief’ and ‘Global Relief’. All of these are organisations banned by the UN,” Galijašević warned.

The BiH-based Association for Education and Culture “Akos”, headquartered in Sarajevo, was among 35 organisations from Europe that the Criminal Court in Cairo placed on Egypt's list of terrorist entities for a period of five years.