Muslim ex-fighters face deportation from Bosnia

SARAJEVO, Sep 5 (Reuters) Bosnia's parliament was today discussing the fate of dozens of former Islamic fighters who came to Bosnia to fight alongside Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-95 war and are now facing deportation.

A government commission has revoked 500 citizenships out of 1,300 that had been awarded to foreigners during and after the war, a move seen as part of an anti-terrorism drive urged by the United States.

Parliament's discussion of the commission report is expected to be largely a formality, but deputies can ask for changes to legal procedures in appeals against deportation where they feel they are unclear.

Most former fighters left Bosnia after the September 11 2001 terror attacks on the United States. But those who stayed, mostly because of family ties, say they are innocents whose lives have been destroyed by political directives from abroad.

''Bosnians have proclaimed that I am a threat to national security,'' said Syrian-born Imad Al Husayn.

His story is typical of many volunteers who stayed on in Bosnia.

He arrived in the former Yugoslavia in 1980 as a student, joined the Bosnian Muslims in their fight against Bosnian Croats and Serbs and decided to stay afterwards.

He has a Bosnian wife and six children. His appeal against loss of citizenship was rejected, and a request for asylum and ''humanitarian residence'' because he has a Bosnian family was also denied.

''Americans gave the Bosnian government a list with the names of 15 people that must leave the country at any cost,'' Husayn said.

''Now I will most probably be deported.'' The government says the citizenships were awarded illegally, but critics say the procedure was perfectly regular at the time.

A senior US diplomat in Bosnia, Raffi Gregorian, said last month that dozens of those former fighters posed a threat to Bosnian national security and were regarded as supporters of al Qaeda.

Bosnia's public has been divided over the issue. Some are sympathetic to the plight of those who came to help them during the war, when they were outnumbered and outgunned by the Bosnian Serbs and under an arms embargo by the West.

But many more fear they want to impose their strict customs on the traditionally tolerant and liberal Bosnian Muslims.

Human rights groups have warned the authorities against deportations of volunteers to countries where they might face torture or other abuse.

''Allah only knows what would happen to me in Syria after Bosnians labelled me a security threat,'' Husayn told Reuters.

''Even if all goes well, how shall I adapt to the life there? I spent half of my life here, I'll have to start from scratch.'' He and others plan to appeal against the deportations at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

REUTERS LPB AS1625