January 1996, pg. 64

Muslim-American Activism

American Task Force for Bosnia Supports Peace Plan

The American Task Force for Bosnia, an umbrella organization for many concerned groups, supported President Bill Clinton's decision to send 20,000 U.S. troops to enforce the Bosnia peace agreement reached in Dayton, Ohio Nov. 21. The peace plan involves Bosnia remaining a single country divided in two parts, a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb republic. Calling the American-backed NATO forces "essential" to the success of the agreement, a Task Force spokesman said military forces may be the only way to stop the four-year conflict that has killed 250,000 people and created more than 2 million refugees—most of whom are Bosnian Muslims. "Not since World War II has Europe been host to such carnage and human suffering," said spokesman Khaled Saffuri. "Now, under American tutelage, all parties have set aside their differences and decided that the cost of war is much high than the cost of peace."

—Geoff Lumetta

Wisdom Fund Says Future of Bosnian Muslims Looks Bleak

The Bosnian peace agreement struck in Dayton, Ohio appears to reward Serbian aggression while leaving few gains to the Bosnian Muslims, according to Enver Masud, director of the Virginia-based Muslim-American group The Wisdom Fund. While Masud hopes the plan to divide Bosnia into Muslim-Croat and Serb sides will be a success, he said the Muslims —who have borne the brunt of the Christian Serb attacks over the last four years—are still left without the assurance of security. "The Bosnia peace agreement raises more questions than it answers," Masud said, adding that it still is unclear whether Bosnians will be allowed to arm themselves in the future if NATO troops pull out. He also said there have been few provisions made for aiding the return of refugees or whether the refugees will have homes to return to. "What is clear is that the Serbs are getting most of what they achieved through aggression and killing—it shows the rest of the world that aggression pays."

Masud said that arming the Muslim Bosnians would improve the balance of power in the region and possibly lead to a more lasting peace. When the Muslims did start to receive arms, they were able to take back some of the territory that was lost earlier to the Serbs. "The momentum was definitely on the Bosnian side before the peace negotiations," Masud said. "They showed that they could defend themselves and they should have been given that right long ago."

Masud added that the partition of countries can often lead to more conflict. He pointed to the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947 as an example. "First Pakistan and then Bangladesh wanted a partition, and now Kashmir wants to do the same," he said. "The people end up spending more time fighting each other than trying to develop their country. I'm afraid that can easily happen in Bosnia."

—Geoff Lumetta

Exiled FIS Leader Condemns Algerian Elections

Anwar Haddam, American spokesman for the Islamic Salvation Front's (FIS), said the Nov. 17 election of former general Liamine Zeroual as president of Algeria will only sanction further repressive and illegal policies by the reigning military-backed government. In a press conference five days after the election, Haddam said the election was held "against all accepted norms of due electoral process." These violations, he said, included excluding representative parties from running in the election; providing an inadequate number of unbiased election observers; and stifling political debate prior to the election. "In a drive to legitimate itself, the government has organized a so-called election in which only itself and its satellite non-representative parties participated," Haddam said.

Zeroual and the National Transitional Government he leads was instituted in 1991 after the first round of national elections showed that FIS candidates would win a majority in the Algerian parliament in a runoff election, enabling them to establish an Islamist government. The National Transition Government has ruled Algeria under a state of emergency over the last four years, and Haddam charged that it has resorted to continuous violations of human rights, torture and murder.

According to official government estimates, nearly 75 percent of Algerian voters turned out for the election and 61 percent cast their votes for Zeroual. The FIS, which remains an illegal group in Algeria, claims the turnout was closer to 37 percent. It also charges that voters were pressured to vote by the government. Haddam said Algerian citizens must have a stamped election card showing they voted in order to receive any public services after the election. Haddam also pointed out that only 102 international election monitors were sent to oversee 33,000 polling places and that none of the parties that won favor in the 1991 election were allowed to participate this time. "Hence these elections are not free and fair elections," he said. "They do not solve the crisis of legitimacy in Algeria. Neither will they ensure a return to normalcy."

—Geoff Lumetta