Macedonian police arrest 9 for involvement in Syria and Iraq

Police in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Thursday arrested at least nine people suspected of having fought alongside insurgents in Syria and Iraq and recruiting others to do the same.

According to media reports, at least several hundred people from Macedonia are fighting in the conflict zones of the Middle East. During the search, police confiscated computers, phones, a gas pistol and financial receipts. The locations included private homes, as well as offices of a humanitarian and an NGO group.

“According to our information he could be seen as the main ideological leader”, Cavkov said, adding that charges would be brought against a group of 36 who had violated Macedonian law by “fighting for another army or paramilitary organization”. The Macedonian Islamic Community has had a history of divisions, with imams declaring themselves out of control from the leadership of the community, and this imam, Rexhep Memishi, was considered to be one of them.

Interior ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski told the Associated Press that all those arrested are Macedonian nationals. Most ethnic Albanians are Muslim, but practice a moderate form of Islam.

The US embassy in Skopje said on Wednesday that it had been informed by the Macedonian authorities that the operation had been launched after a long and careful investigation. They’re suspected of being volunteers or recruiters for the group to struggle in Syria and Iraq.