(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman met today (Tuesday, 5 January 2010) in Jerusalem with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health Vladimir Pesevski and with the Minister of the Interior Gordana Jankulovska.
FM Liberman stated during the meeting that current information clearly shows that the Balkan States are the next destination of the global Jihad.
FM Liberman added that in his meetings with intelligence and defense officials during his recent visits to South America and Africa, he observed the widespread Iranian and Hizbullah activities in South America and the activities of al-Qaida and Jama'a al-Islamiya in Somalia, Kenya and Nigeria. According to the Foreign Minister, the fact that citizens of Nigeria and Kenya were involved in the past two international terrorist attempts - the attempt to blow up the American airliner on its way to Detroit and the attempt on the life of the Danish cartoonist - speaks for itself.
FM Liberman informed PM Gruevski that current information clearly shows that the Balkan region is the next destination of the global Jihad, which aims to establish an infrastructure and recruit activists. This can be seen by the attempts of Moslem and Saudi Arabian charity organizations - who have transferred funds to Africa and South America for this purpose - to transfer funds to regions populated by Bosnians and Albanians.
In addition, FM Liberman advised PM Gruevski that these indications necessitate arrangements that will prevent the same phenomena that occurred in Africa and South America from reoccurring in the Balkans.