According to an important report in yesterday's Washington Post by John Pomfret, the major figure in Islamic religious nationalism in Bosnia is Semsudin Mehmedovic who is in charge of police in the Zenica area.
What is important about the Pomfret article is its specificity. Several earlier articles had made generalized claims about Islamic nationalism, but had failed to specify the parties involved, alluding vaguely to the SDA party. However the government of Bosnia and SDA party have many members who are anti-fundamentalist, in particular in areas such as the culture ministry.
But Pomfret shows how a particular regional police figure, Semsudin Mehmedovic, has started a campaign of intimidation against non-Muslims in the Zenica region, as well as intimidation against anyone not supporting the SDA party. As usual, religious nationalism entails repression not only of those outside the "pure religion" but also anyone inside it who disagrees or dissents.
The abuses in the area include the forced marriage of young Bonsian girls to Islamic fighters from outside Bosnia (allowing the Islamic fighters to remain as citizens). These abuses have sickened and brought denunciation even from the likes of people like Enes Karic (whose provocative pronunciations when he was Education minister were discussed earlier in this forum).
The question posed is this. The Bosnian government and the SDA party are clearly split between religious nationalists and those who favor a civic, multireligious society. What specific actions can be taken to stop the abuses of Mehmedovic and his followers?
Although much has been made of the Iranian connection, many of the worst abuses from foreign Islamic fundamentalist are coming from Saudi and Kuwait sources. Yet both these governments are fully dependent on the U.S. which provides them with security in exchange for cheap oil.
The U.S. government, if it were serious about enforcing the Dayton accords, could simply ask its close friends in Kuwait and Riyadh to stop supporting extremist fundamentalist like Mehmedovic who are trying to destroy the Dayton agreement and establish what would be an Islamic ghetto in the heart of Europe, a doomed ministate that would be culturally, economically, and politically unviable.
Michael Sells