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Serbian police raids Islamist homes after Sarajevo attack
Oct 29, 2011, 8:26 GMT
Sarajevo/Belgrade - Serbian police raided homes in the largely Muslim Sandzak region on Saturday, detaining at least 15 people following the attack on the US embassy in Sarajevo in neighbouring Bosnia, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said.
'This morning at 5 am an operation against the extremist Islamic Wahhabi movement was launched on the territory of Novi Pazar, Sjenica and Tutin,' Dacic said.
The towns are in Sandzak, a largely Muslim region straddling south-western Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.
Serbian police director, Milorad Veljovic, said the operation, conducted by the elite gendarme and anti-terrorist units, had been concluded, but hinted that more arrests were possible, broadcaster B92 reported.
Police also searched the Novi Pazar home of Mevlid Jasarevic, who opened fire at the US embassy in Sarajevo with a Kalashnikov Friday afternoon, wounding two people.
Contrary to initial reports, Jasarevic, 23, survived a shootout with police and was hospitalized with a non-critical gunshot wound to his thigh.
Witnesses said that he had shouted 'Allah is great' and spoke about 'Americans killing Muslims all over the world.' The US embassy has yet to comment.
Aside from the rifle, he also carried two hand grenades. It was not yet clear whether other suspects are being sought.
Jasarevic is a registered Wahhabi, Dacic said earlier. He was detained by Serbian police in Novi Pazar in 2010, when a knife was found on him during the visit by the US ambassador in Belgrade
Wahhabism is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia.
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