Two radical preachers and five others have been arrested under terrorism-related charges in connection with recruiting for and supporting radical forces fighting in the Syrian civil war.
TIRANA, March 12 – Albanian authorities have arrested two self-appointed imams and five of their followers for allegedly recruiting Albanians to fight in the Syrian war, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Six others are wanted in connection with the same charges, officials with Albania’s Serious Crimes Prosecutor’s Office said, adding weapons, military clothing and literature that promoted hatred had been found during early morning raids in several Albanian cities.
The two imams served in mosques in the outskirts of Tirana, while the five other people arrested were detained in central and eastern Albania. All are accused of recruiting Albanian Muslims to fight against the Assad regime in Syria’s civil war.
The police operation came after a lengthy investigation by authorities, following a series a series of reports that Albanian Muslims had traveled to join the fighting in Syria. Though there is no precise figure of how many have done so and how many have died, the prosecution’s investigation and the recent arrests seem to indicate that there is an organized structure in Albania working to send fighters to Syria. Those arrested this week had allegedly recruited at least 50 people, according to authorities. Prosecutors said in a press conference the two preachers were part of a radical ideology that was alien to Albanian Islam and were acting independently of the officially-recognized religious bodies in the country.
They “allegedly actively indoctrinated their followers with radical ideology and pushed them to engage in combat as part of extremist terrorist groups as defined by the United Nations, ” said the head of the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office, Eugen Beci.
The seven face charges of “recruiting persons to commit terrorist acts” and the “incitement of hatred or quarrels between nations, races and religions,” Beci daid. They face up to ten years imprisonment if convicted, authorities said.
Police also found weapons, ammunition and explosives at some of the homes of those arrested. Written materials promoting inter-religious hatred were also found by police, authorities said.
Two mosques were also searched under court-issued warrants. Several of the men who attend the Unaza e Re mosque, where one of the arrested imams preached, complained police had violated their rights by prohibiting them from praying the mosque during the early morning raid, forcing them to pray in the street instead.
Those who use the mosque, a multi-story building, say it was built with contributions from the local community and that they were doing nothing wrong. They say they had asked permission from the local religious authorities before building the mosque.
There have been reports in the local media that prosecutors started the investigation after the death of two ethnic Albanians in the Syria war recently.
There are no official figures but the local media report that there could be scores of Albanian Muslims taking part in the war in Syria.
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London estimated last December that there could be up to 150 Albanians fighting in Syria.
The Albanian Muslim Community, the official organization in charge of religious affairs for Albanian Muslims, also came out in a statement saying the two imams and the mosques they ran were not sanctioned by the AMC and were not under its control. The Muslim Community also repeated its call on all Albanians not to go and take part at the Syrian war.
“Participation in conflicts and promoting violence does not coincide with the spirit of Islam,” the Albanian Muslim Community said in a statement.
Muslims make up more than half of Albania’s population, but the country is one of the world’s least religious countries, staunchly secular and tolerant.
Of the 56 percent of Albanians who declared Islam as their religion in the 2011 census, only 7 percent (about 120,000 people) consider religion as a very important factor in their lives, which was the lowest percentage in the world among countries with significant Muslim populations, according to a recent survey. Another survey lists Albania as the thirteenth least religious country in the world.
Albanian authorities have been concerned however by a small number of Albanian Muslims who have been attracted by imams who do not belong to Albania’s traditional school of Islam, which has its roots in the liberal Ottoman Islam, but rather more conservative strains that have their roots in the Arab world.
