U.S. Pressure Forces Ouster of Bosnian Muslim Official

Bowing to U.S. pressure, Bosnia’s Muslim-Croat government Tuesday fired a senior official with ties to Iran, clearing the way for disbursement of more than $100 million in American weapons.

The materiel--part of a U.S. “equip-and-train” program for Bosnia-Herzegovina and including helicopters, assault rifles and 45 tanks--has been floating off the Adriatic coast for nearly a month awaiting dismissal of Deputy Defense Minister Hasan Cengic. Cengic is described by American officials as a high-stakes arms dealer closely connected to Tehran.

After negotiations characterized as brutal, Cengic was replaced through a government executive order issued late Tuesday by Kresimir Zubak, president of the Muslim-Croat federation.

Cengic’s refusal to go had underscored the continuing influence of pro-Iranian Muslim politicians in Bosnia’s ruling party. Iran supplied Muslim-led Bosnia with weapons, as well as hundreds of fighters, in the 43-month war it waged against Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb enemies. Much of the arms trade was coordinated by Cengic at a time when Bosnia was under a U.N. arms embargo, U.S. officials say.

The dispute over Cengic reflected the competing tendencies in the Sarajevo government’s senior leadership. Alija Izetbegovic, now chairman of Bosnia’s three-member presidency, resisted dismissing him until last week, when he said his government had to choose Washington over Tehran.

Cengic, who is close to Izetbegovic, is from a powerful, devoutly Muslim family that controls many business interests within Bosnia.

The delay in unloading the weapons from the cargo ship American Condor has cost about $1.3 million--money that would otherwise have gone to the Bosnian training program, U.S. officials say. With the removal of Cengic, the equipment could begin to move in the next few days.

U.S. special envoy James Pardew, who oversees the program, had been pressing for Cengic’s dismissal for weeks. Pardew received a copy of Zubak’s order Tuesday and said he was satisfied that Cengic will be out of his post today. Cengic “is a nationalist zealot who seemed to have no intention of working with the United States toward a Western-oriented . . . NATO-oriented military,” Pardew said in an interview.

Previous protests by Washington concerning Iranian-linked officials in the Bosnian government have resulted in their being shifted to other positions but not removed.

Worth a total of $400 million, the equip-and-train program has been fraught with trouble from the start. It was first delayed because of the presence of moujahedeen, or Islamic fighters, who were considered a menace to civilians and North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led troops. Although required to expel the fighters under the U.S.-brokered Dayton, Ohio, peace accord, Bosnia let some of them stay; as recently as September, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo warned American citizens of death threats issued by purported moujahedeen.

The next obstacle came when Bosnian Muslims and Croats allied in the federation were required to agree on a national defense law to unify their armies. The two factions fought bitterly over who would command the army. In the end, they could agree only to unify the command structure, but the troops will not be integrated for at least three years.

Muslims and Croats waged war against each other in 1993 before joining in an unhappy marriage of convenience to turn their forces against the Serbs. Now that the war is over, hard-line Muslim and Croatian leaders show little willingness to work together.

Cengic worked to delay passage of the defense law in part because he was making money from weapons imported from Iran and other non-U.S. suppliers, Western sources said.

Even after Izetbegovic agreed to get rid of Cengic, Zubak--whose signature was required for Cengic to be formally dismissed--apparently continued to resist in an effort to win political concessions. He tried to use the Cengic dispute to gain more seats for Croats in the future Bosnian government, U.S. officials said.

Also seeking concessions, Bosnia’s Muslims insisted that the Cengic deal include removal of Vladimir Soljic, the defense minister and a Croat. He resigned Monday night.