Wait a minute. I thought that “there are not now and never have been, in recent times, ‘Muslim militants’ in Kosovo, aside from a handful of individuals and some Saudi and other Gulf Arab-state cells operating through relief agencies.”
From Skopje’s “˜Vreme” via www.seeurope.net, with thanks to Skeetstreet:
Well-informed sources have told Vreme that the Islamic Community’s armed incidents, violence, and tension are the result of a battle between two Islamic factions — the pro-Arabic radical Islam and the traditional one, which the young Skopje imams are advocating.
According to these sources, the young muftis from Skopje are trying to preserve the Islamic Community’s autonomy and the foundations of the so-called secular or traditional Islam. An the other end is a faction represented by Skopje Mufti Zenun Berisha, whose goal is allegedly to strengthen the position of radical Islam — fostered by a movement known as Wahabism — in the Islamic Community.
Experts have indicated that Wahabism is an Islamic religious trend that propagates religious radicalism and conservatism. Our sources say that Skopje Mufti Berisha has been joined by Islamic theologians and imams who have studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, where Wahabism is recognized as a state religion.
As an Islamic religious movement, Wahabism is exercised by so-called Wahabi groups. In Macedonia, the Kumanovo-Lipkovo area and the areas of Gostivar and Tetovo are said to host well-organized, strong, and established Wahabi groups, while in other parts of the country they are still in the making.
If Wahabism, as an Islamic movement, finds its way to come to power in the Islamic Community, this would trigger a rerun of the Bosnia-Herzegovina’s [B-H] experience. In addition to being asked to follow conservative norms and customs, believers there were also asked to boycott US and west European brands and promote products coming from the Arab world, primarily from Saudi Arabia, experts have said.
According to intelligence reports, one of the chief objectives of the Wahabi current in the Balkans is the unification of the Islamic religious communities of Macedonia, Kosovo, Sandzak, and Montenegro under the umbrella of the Sarajevo-based B-H Islamic Community, as they used to function before the SFRY’s [Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia] disintegration.
The pro-Arabic Islam has already infiltrated the Balkans, finding its firmest stronghold in the B-H Islamic Community. These factions have been successful in pursuing their goal of expanding and getting embedded in the Islamic religious communities of Macedonia, Montenegro, Sandzak, and Kosovo.