All Alija's Men

Recently a newspaper in Bosnia-Herzegovina brought a short item saying that Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, Minister of special purposes production had been dismissed from office. Had such news been released less than a year ago, it would have made front page headlines, and the inevitable question would have followed: Why is B-H President Alija Izetbegovic getting rid of his number one man? As he moved away from declarative support for a civic state, and started formally and officially to urge a national state, so Izetbegovic's top associates started changing.

Party of Democratic Action (SDA) vice-president Muhamed Cengic who was fond of show business, left before the start of the war, he was followed by: SDA secretary and number one man in the former federal and republican assemblies Irfan Ajanovic; SDA eminence grise and Alija's friend from jail days and "Young Moslem" period Omer Behmen; Jusuf Prazina, a small time criminal who became a legend and Bosnian Army hero over night; Armin Pohara, a man who enjoyed Alija's confidence and was his personal envoy in the dismantling of Tuzla's civilian structure; Sefer Halilovic, the man whose face adorned T shirts worn by soldiers, whose name was mentioned in patriotic songs and who was the unchallenged Bosnia-Herzegovina army commander; Hadzo Efendic, allegedly made a name for himself in the defence of Gorazde and was the top man in the B-H government for months; and finally, the quiet departure of SDA ideologue Rusmir Mahmutcehajic.

Izetbegovic was probably greatly relieved when he got rid of Cengic. Cengic was a popular politician, and had started to help the opposition with his frequent attacks on the inefficient and divided B-H government where he held the post of vice Prime Minister. Cengic came from Foca where he managed to collect a large sum of money from the local Moslems, thus helping found the SDA. He was Izetbegovic's deputy until the start of the war. Izetbegovic then made him the B-H representative in Istanbul. Today Cengic travels between Turkey and Slovenia, in an attempt at finding a link with B-H and Izetbegovic, even though the latter is no longer interested in working with Cengic.

Irfan Ajanovic was the last delegate in the Federal Assembly and SDA representative in the B-H parliament. Ajanovic was a folk singer before he became one of the most radical members of the SDA. Izetbegovic promoted him to the first official logistics officers. Ajanovic set up office in the bar of Zagreb's Panorama Hotel. After his departure from Croatia, B-H logistics centers cropped up all over Croatia, sponsored by a strong B-H lobby in Zagreb. There was no longer any place for Ajanovic, or for making small time money. He was seen at various European panel discussions on B-H, where he urged an Islamic Bosnia. On returning to B-H he was captured by Serb Bosnian leader Radovan Karadzic's men. A part of the SDA membership still speak of him as being in jail in Banja Luka, while the Serbian media claim that he has been seen strolling about Belgrade for the past few months.

Izetbegovic once said that he would sacrifice his jail buddy Omer Behmen for the good of the party. At the time Behmen was a big SDA name, with the reputation of one who had suffered most under the Communist regime. Behmen's status was the result of the vilest treatment in Communist jails, often burdened with nationalist bias, so that Behmen came to embody the SDA's nationalist policy. At the March 14, 1993 Assembly session, during a debate on whether or not to sign the Vance-Owen plan, Behmen said: "We are losers! We have to sign what they have put before us. We have no choice. We are doing this since it reflects the situation at the front. At the front in places where we are stronger - all is ours, where we are weak, it's not ours... We face fate and that which is expected of us". Did Behmen's words irritate Izetbegovic who, in creating an Islamic Bosnia, is prepared to use military means and negotiations in winning a few extra percent of territory? Behmen was sent to Iran as the new B-H Ambassador. Today Behmen writes letters begging to be allowed to return to Sarajevo, since he has practically no contacts with B-H!

During the period with Jusuf Juka Prazina, the media in Sarajevo, the daily Oslobodjenje foremost, described him as a hero, and editors bragged of having sipped coffee with him! Juka gained his Robin Hood image by stealing hundreds of cars in the city, tons of crude and foodstuffs and distributing a part of his wealth to Sarajevo's hungry inhabitants. This brought him media coverage. Thanks to all this (writers began writing about him, songs glorifying him were sung) Juka started thinking of himself as the man fated to be the new Bosnian leader. As a result he soon fell out of favor with the authorities and media, and left town, only to behave as the Big Boss on Mt. Igman - letting people leave and enter Sarajevo according to his whims. He soon joined the Croatian Council of Defence (HVO) and was used by Bosnian Croat leader Mate Boban as an another trump card in dealing with Izetbegovic. Juka finally fled to Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium, where he was found dead recently.

Armin Pohara entered politics in 1990, ahead of the first multi-party elections, as the President of the tiny "Party of Mixed Marriages" from Bosanski Brod. The party urged brotherhood and unity and the federation of the former Yugoslavia. His party then joined the ranks of former Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Markovic's Reformist Movement, where Pohara criticized Markovic for not being sufficiently up to mark on the Yugoslav cause. When the war started he donned fatigues and joined the command defending Bosanski Brod, which surrendered without a struggle to Karadzic's army. Suddenly becoming aware of his Moslem roots, Pohara offered his services to Izetbegovic who promoted him to Coordinator of the B-H Armed Forces, and sent him as a special envoy to deal with the authorities in Tuzla, with whom Izetbegovic did not see eye to eye. The citizens of Tuzla chased him out of the city.

In the meantime, a Moslem-Croat conflict broke out and Pohara fled to Mate Boban, believing that his political future lay in a Croat-Moslem party. From being an anonymous pre-war journalist, Pohara has managed to realize his dreams and become the president of a party and editor in chief of an "independent paper" - "Western Bosnia". Pohara writes the paper's column and has ambitions of negotiating in Geneva.

Sefer Halilovic, a captain in the former Yugoslav People's Army, entered the B-H political scene with a lot of pomp. Halilovic is obsessed with his historical mission in defending an integral B-H. Halilovic, who originates from Sandzak, refused to introduce ranks in the B-H Army to the horror of more experienced and educated B-H Army officers, saying: "We will prove ourselves in battle." Taking advantage of the media, Halilovic frequently appeared as a politician and not a soldier, so that the foreign media were soon wondering who held the real power in B-H, Halilovic or Izetbegovic. By abandoning the idea of an integral B-H, and agreeing to negotiations over additional territory, Halilovic made it easy for Izetbegovic to dismiss him and place a professional soldier not interested in politics in his place - Rasim Delic. At first there was talk that Halilovic would be moved to another post, and not dismissed, while recent information has clarified the issue - Halilovic is under house arrest in Sarajevo.

Hadzo Efendic is a man of limited intellectual abilities and this is why he is so loyal to Izetbegovic. The SDA is presenting him as fresh blood, at a time when compromised top SDA officials are fighting for their political careers. Efendic is being promoted as the man who defended Gorazde. This Moslem enclave in Eastern Bosnia is a United Nations Protected Area, and has become synonymous with the suffering of Bosnian Moslems. Efendic was made B-H vice Prime Minister and in the absence of Prime Minister Mile Akmadzic, he was looked upon as the strongest man in the government, albeit one whose intellectual efforts ended with the repetition of worn out phrases on unity. This situation was tenable for as long as Izetbegovic urged the concept of an integral B-H. Today, when the idea of a Moslem state is being publicly urged, Efendic has been moved from Sarajevo and made the B-H Ambassador to Austria.

The most recent removal of a top SDA official, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, is the best illustration of the direction that Izetbegovic's policy is taking. In peace time, when Izetbegovic never dreamed of proclaiming a Moslem state, Mahmutcehajic was looked on as a hardened nationalist. Today, when Izetbegovic is rounding off his Islamic political option, Mahmutcehajic is not considered the right man for the job. His dismissal is proof that Izetbegovic's goal - an Islamic Bosnia - has outgrown Mahmutcehajic's brand of nationalism. Mahmutcehajic is now defended by the intellectual elite in Sarajevo as a man supporting a moderate option in B-H.

A struggle to get closer to Alija Izetbegovic is currently underway between Ejup Ganic and Haris Silajdzic. In the last few months Silajdzic has an advantage over Ganic and is frequently seen in Izetbegovic's company during state business trips. On the other hand, Ganic, as the always present pretender to a higher post, will not let Silajdzic get too far ahead of him. No matter how the battle for the place of Number Two ends, it just proves that Alija Izetbegovic is still the unchallenged Moslem leader in Bosnia.