Serbian police crack down on Islamic group

Serbian police crack down on Islamic group

Serbian police on Saturday conducted an early-morning raid on a number of buildings and detained people with potential links to Mevlid Jasarevic, who was arrested on Friday after firing shots at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, reported the Serbian news agency Tanjug.

Serbian police searched 18 buildings in and around the town of Novi Pazar, the main town of the Sandzak region of Serbia with a majority Slavic Muslim population and Jasarevic's hometown.

During the raid, police seized a number of computers and laptops along with military uniforms and literature promoting the ultra-conservative Wahhabi movement of which Jasarevic was allegedly a member.

Seventeen people were detained and later released after questioning. With the exception of a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all were Serbian citizens.

In light of the recent attack in Sarajevo and the possible connection to Islamic organizations in the Sandzak region of Serbia, Milorad Veljovic, Serbian Police Director, said the situation was under control and that there was no reason to fear Wahhabism in country. Veljovic told Belgrade television that threat came from individuals and not the movement itself.

The Wahhabi branch of Islam largely is said to have arrived in the region with volunteer soldiers from Islamic countries during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and has been spreading itself influence since.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-10-30 06:17:36 FeedbackPrintRSS
BELGRADE, Oct. 29 (Xinhua)