Arrested Imam Faces Terrorism Charges in Kosovo

Kosovo Police said the unnamed imam arrested in Gjilan was suspected of “encouraging jihad”, meaning “holy war”. They also said they found the cleric hiding in woods near his home.

Both arrested persons have allegedly recruited people for terrorist purposes and incited racial, religious and ethnic hatred.

The arrests are linked with the earlier roundup of four persons in June in Kacanik who are facing the same charges.  

On Monday, police arrested 40 persons on suspicion of membership of terrorist groups linked to the Islamic State, IS, the hard-line Sunni Muslim organization fighting to create a so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The State Prosecution said after the arrest of the 40 persons that “different profiles are under investigations, including imams”.

The Basic Court in Pristina has meanwhile said the 40 detainees arrested on Monday will be remanded in custody for 30 days owing to fears that they may flee Kosovo, or influence each other's testimonies.

They are charged with organizing and participating in terrorist groups, inciting religious, racial and ethnic hatred, recruiting for terrorist purposes, and possession and unauthorized use of weapons.

Police searched about 60 houses in different towns during the operation, and confiscated arms and explosive as material evidence.

Baki Kelani, a police spokesperson, said the operation followed two years of investigations.

A number of Muslim Albanians from the Balkans have joined the sectarian conflict in Iraq and Syria. Police say 16 Kosovars have died in fighting in Syria and Iraq so far.

On August 10, it was reported that 18-year-old Patriot Matoshi, from Kosovo, had been killed in the conflict in Syria.  

The International Center for the Study of Radicalization, ISRA, a think tank based in King's College, London, believes about 300 Albanian fighters, from Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania, have joined militant groups in Syria.

The latest arrests have been welcomed by Kosovo leaders. “Kosovo will not allow itself to become a shelter of extremism,”  President Atifete Jahjaga said.