Re: [Debconf-team] Sarajevo text

[Andreas Schuldei <andreas@schuldei.org>]

* Anthony Towns (aj@azure.humbug.org.au) [060705 16:51]:
> On Tue, Jul 04, 2006 at 12:15:59PM +0200, Joerg Jaspert wrote:
> > Option 2 - Student Dormitory together with Cultural Centre
> > ==========================================================
> 
> > On the way to the Arabic culture center[31]  
> 
> > [31] https://gallery.debconf.org/jjsjjvenue/dscn2985
> 
> The sign on the pillar in that photo reads:
> 
>     U ime Allaha, Milostivog, Samilosnog. 
>     Kulturni centar
>     "Kralj Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud."
>     15.09.2000. G.     17.06.1421. po H.
> 
> The King Fahd Mosque and Cultural Center seems to appear in a few
> terrorism related reports, being reportedly a center for Wahhabism (the
> variant of Islam most common in Saudi Arabia, as I understand it, [0]).

yes, we are aware of that. I was lucky enough to meet a guy at
the airport who seemed very well informed about the circumstances
of this (and an other report). It seemed to me that he was
involved in the investigations. (i met him because i approached
his wife who was swedish.)

he told me that while the center is under investigation (and
survaillance) there are no hard facts and that he would not
recommend to exclude the center from our considerations on that
basis, since there is a considerable partthat is only rumor.

first he was concerned because he thought that the center had
approached us, but that was not the case. he thinks that the
center is partly motivated by the desire for better press.

I had asked safir about this, too, and he told me that they (some
of the local team) knew people from the center and did not
believe that there was much basis for the rumors/accusations.

We did not mention it in the reports because we did not want to
spread rumors and because this holds the potential of a
mud-throwing campaine against sarajevo, which we wanted to stay
out of.