SARAJEVO (Reuters) – A 43-year-old man has been arrested in Bosnia on suspicion of having links with Islamic State militants and of planning to attack Muslims from other traditions and one of their mosques, prosecutors said on Monday.
The man from the central town of Zenica had been convicted in the past of other crimes related to terrorist activities and fighting in Syria, the statement from Bosnia’s state prosecutor’s office read.
It did not say whether he denied the charges and did not give any details of any lawyer representing him.
The man was suspected of communicating digitally with Islamic State backers and of asking for instructions on how to build an explosive device that could be detonated by a phone, the statement read.
It said he was suspected of planning to attack Islamic scholars that preached against militants and reported on militant activities to Bosnian authorities.
Bosnia’s state court has tried and convicted 46 people who have returned from Syria or Iraq in recent years. A total of 241 Bosnian adults and 80 children moved to Syria and Iraq from 2012-2016, according to Bosnian intelligence.
The man was detained on Friday, according to a spokeswoman for the State Investigation and Protection Agency.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
