KARAN: ATTACK ON SERBS IN VOGOŠĆA AN ACT OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 3 /SRNA/ - The attack on Serb returnees in the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Vogošća is not merely an act of ethnic hatred, but an act of religious extremism that has been directed against Serbs for decades, former Counterintelligence Service officer Ljuban Karan told SRNA.

Karan said that such cases are typically accompanied by efforts to downplay and conceal what happened, with attacks portrayed as being motivated by material gain and as something harmless, but that the situation is much more serious. He said that the attack was aimed at intimidating Serbs, warning that if this is not stopped, it could once again lead to an outbreak of ethnic and religious conflict in BiH, which would tear the country apart. Karan stressed that Bosniaks, who for decades have been welcoming hosts to the most radical Islamists and head-choppers, want an Islamic state in the Balkans, with Serbs standing in their way. "They wanted to seize the territory of Republika Srpska as well, but they failed and will not succeed, but they have not given up on creating their own extremist state, which could once again set the Balkans ablaze," Karan said. He assessed that Bosniaks, Croats and Albanians are becoming increasingly nervous over the shift in US policy towards Serbs in the Balkans, creating a persistent negative climate towards Serbs. He said that the nervousness had culminated in recent days over the death of General Ratko Mladić, as everything that had been fabricated about the general and the Army of Republika Srpska had been called into question and subjected to a sort of reassessment. "All of this has once again rekindled a fire that could flare up if there is not enough wisdom. The terrible pressure on Serbs is once again clear, and we are now also seeing physical attacks," Karan said. He said that these pressures and attacks were only accelerating the disintegration of BiH and the creation of Republika Srpska as a separate state. "If they continue like this, they will either succeed in it or provoke a new conflict for which they will blame the Serbs, even though they are to blame for everything," Karan said. He stressed that Republika Srpska's leadership and the media should continuously work to make the international public aware that the most radical Islamists and head-choppers came to BiH in the 1990s and that many remained in the area as a mechanism for creating an Islamic BiH. Serb returnees, 92-year-old A. Š. and his son B. Š. /68/, were brutally attacked in their home in Vogošća. The elderly man was brutally beaten, suffering a stroke as a result, while his son was shot at but, fortunately, was not hit. Two Sarajevo residents, A. K. /27/ and M. K. /25/, were arrested in connection with the attack. The case, which has alarmed the family, Serbs in the Federation of BiH and the wider public, was officially classified by the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of the Interior as attempted robbery.