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Volunteer fighters from the Middle East and North Africa have converged on Bosnia to help `reclaim the Muslim lands of Europe' MICHAEL JON VIGODDA Bosnia The red-and-white checkered keffiya draped around Ali's neck sets him apart from the regular forces that roam the streets of Travnik, a Muslim city in Bosnia about 7 km (4.5 miles) from the Serbian front. Other details point to his foreign origins: a dark complexion; ignorance of Serbo-Croatian, the local language (he communicates in thickly accented English or French); the lack of any Bosnian or Croatian insignia on his military fatigues; and the Chinese markings on his AK47 assault rifle, indicating that it is likely to have been supplied by Iran.
Ali, a Moroccan, came to Bosnia to help combat what he calls "Western aggression against the Muslim peoples." He says he is one of 700 mujahideen, holy warriors of Islam, who have arrived in Travnik, population 14,000, in recent weeks to help the Bosnian fighters in their struggle against the Serbs. The declared aim of the volunteers, including Iranians, Turks, North Africans, Afghanis and Palestinians from the camps of Lebanon: to "reclaim the Muslim lands of Europe."
Harrowing reports of "ethnic cleansing" of the Muslim population of Bosnia and TV pictures of hundreds of Muslims starving in prison camps run by Serbs, most of whom belong to the Eastern Orthodox church, have aroused feelings of outrage in the Arab and Muslim world and prompted popular demands on governments to extend help.
White-robed Saudi sheikhs can frequently be spotted in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, strolling the streets of Zenica in Bosnia and meeting with local officials, while a steady flow of trucks marked "Saudia" and "Operation Muhammad" make their way along the logging trails which pass for roads, carrying food and medicines to the eastern reaches of Bosnia, where U.N. aid...