That there are al-Qaeda (Group Profile)-connected or -inspired terrorists hiding and/or training in Bosnia (Country Profile) is no surprise. Given the recent history of this country and the fact that al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist groups have formed in many more peaceful and democratic European countries, including the UK (Country Profile) and Spain (Country Profile), the presence of Muslim terrorists in Bosnia is almost a given. Bosnian Muslims remain in a state of near war with Bosnia Serbs, and the peace is only maintained by the permanent presence of thousands of international peacekeepers. Despite the superficial appearance of normality, below the surface, the same ethnic and religious tensions that led to civil war in the early 1990?s remain and would likely explode anew should the peacekeepers withdraw. As a result, Bosnian Muslim society remains both radicalized and militarized to a far greater extent than is the case elsewhere in Europe.

The Bosnia Muslim population was both traumatized and radicalized by the desperate battle for survival it fought against both Serbs and Croats. This hugely destabilizing conflict ensured that Muslim extremism was able to gain a strong foothold amongst a population that had been largely secular prior to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. This population had, however, been religious and willing to endure hardships for their faith during the long period of communist dominance and oppression after World War II. This population had also learned to endure the discrimination that resulted from the centuries? old enmities that existed between the Orthodox Christian Serbs and Muslims. Indeed, the Serb makes much of the fact that a Serbian army defeated the Muslim armies that threatened the rest of Europe. Bosnia Muslims live on the front line of a centuries? old conflict between the two faiths.