“White Muslims”

William J. Kole of the Associated Press has written a fascinating article on the growth of non-Arab terrorist recruitment in the Balkans.^[1] That article, however, is not available through the AP’s Accessa service, and only portions of it remain on a handful of Indian news sites;^[2] it seems to have been altered, edited, and replaced with a different article.^[3]

{Update: The article has now been made available.}

In any event, the thrust of Mr. Kole’s article is that “[t]errorists have been working to recruit non-Arab sympathizers—so-called “white Muslims” with Western features who theoretically could more easily blend into European cities and execute attacks.”^[4] This claim comes from a “252-page confidential report jointly compiled by Croatian and U.S. intelligence on the activities of Islamic group in Bosnia.”^[5]

In many respects, the recruitment of western-featured individuals is not new. Californian John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban,” was seized while fighting against US forces in Afghanistan.^[6] Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber,” has western features having been born to an English mother and a Jamaican father.^[7] And Jose Padilla, the “apartment bomber”^[8] has Hispanic features.^[9] Clearly, then, it is not earth-shattering news that non-Arabs are being recruited by terrorist organizations.^[10]

Nonetheless, the report’s findings are important to understand. According to Dragan Lukac, the deputy director of Bosnia’s equivalent of the FBI, “Bosnia has become a breeding ground for terrorists, including some on international wanted lists.”^[11] This may be attributed in part to disaffection among Bosnian youth, encouraged by tacit acceptance of “spout[ing] extremist sentiment in public.”^[12] While the “vast majority” of Bosnia’s Muslim population rejects extremism, “young, restless men frustrated with 40 percent joblessness and angered by real or perceived insults to Islam can be open to hard-line dogma.”^[13]

Furthermore, Bosnia has become something of an extremist “beachhead” because “arms and explosives are easily obtained in what [Mr.] Lukac calls ‘a kind of El Dorado’ for criminals”; the former Yugoslavia has turned into a sort of “meeting point.”^[14]

Despite the report’s findings, Bosnian and international officials “stress[] that the Balkan country should not be considered a hotbed of terrorist activity,” and that post-9/11 security measures have largely “created a situation in which [Bosnia] can say these kinds of things were put under control.”^[15]

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[1] William J. Kole, White Warriors Terrorists Recruiting "White Muslims", Associated Press, Apr. 17, 2006. (not available online)
[2] See ”Terrorists May be Recruiting White Muslims”, Associated Press (via Express India), Apr. 17, 2006; See also id. (via Financial Express) and id. (via Indian Monitor).
[3] See William J. Kole, Intelligence Report: Islamic Extremists Have Been Transiting Balkans for Years, AP, Apr. 17, 2006. (subscription only).
[4] Kole, supra note 1.
[5] Id.
[6] See John Walker Lindh: Profile, CNN.com, Dec. 2001.
[7] See Who is Richard Reid? BBC News, Dec. 28, 2001.
[8] Mr. Padilla may be better-known as the “dirty bomber,” but as we have pointed out a number of times, that is an inaccurate way to discuss him.
[9] See Profile: Jose Padilla, BBC News, Nov. 22, 2005.
[10] From a purely technical point of view, terrorist organizations in the Pacific Islands--such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf, Laskar Jihad, Free Aceh Movement, and Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia, comprised of Pacific Islanders—may be Muslim, but they are not Arab. See, e.g., Simon Elegant, Eye of the Storm, Time (Asia), no date of publication provided. Furthermore, Islamic terrorist organizations in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and elsewhere in Southern Asia are not properly considered “Arab,” either.
[11] Kole, supra note 1.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Kole, supra note 3.