With the refusal to sign the agreement on the Port of Ploče and the obstruction of the Croatian offer for the construction of the project documentation necessary for announcing an international tender for the construction of Corridor Vc through Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the frightening truth: the Government in that country did not bring about the decision while taking into account the national and state interest, but solely took into account the mafia and other criminal organizations connected to the leader of the Democratic Action Party, Alija Izetbegović. The decisive role in bringing about the shameful decision that opposes the long-term interest of citizens in BiH was made by Husein and Hasan Čengić, father and son. The two of them stand behind the Malaysian company, Bosmal, which requested a direct negotiation with the Government of BiH instead of a tender in order to receive the concession for the construction of the highway through Bosnia. The offer by the Croatian government suggesting that an international tender be issued for constructing the corridor brought into question the profit that could be made by Čengić, estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars- that is how much they could earn on a project that will not cost them more than 3 billion dollars. From high ranked political circles of the International Community in Sarajevo, Nacional discovered a secret: Hasan Čengić has tenancy of the Energopetrol petroleum terminal in the Port of Ploče. This terminal has enormous capacity, over 100 thousand tons, and most of the petroleum for BiH is imported through this port. By official estimations, last year in the state budget of BiH, approximately 120 million dollars was not paid due to tax evasion and not paying customs charges for petroleum import. The current unresolved situation in the Port of Ploče favours Hasan Čengić the most- alongside other criminal groups from Croatia and BiH – because it allows for smuggling, illegal trade and outwitting the laws and tax institutions of Croatia and BiH. Because of that the Čengić’s, as well as several criminal circles in Croatia, have stopped the signing of the agreement, even though all requests by the Government of BiH were included. Foreign observers estimate that over 75% of smuggled goods are imported to BiH via the Ploče port.

Bosmal was founded in Sarajevo in 1998 and the ownership is 50% Bosnian and 50% Malaysian. Bosmal is financing the construction of the Bosmal City Center in Sarajevo. Until now, 37 million Bosnian marks have been invested in that project. The owners of Bosmal are 32-year-old businessman, Edin Šabanović, and his brother Nijaz. Their Malaysian partner, Hassan Jamaluddin, owns the remaining shares. The brothers left Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and went to Kuala Lumpur via Zagreb. Nijaz Šabanović is an architect while Edin did not complete his studies at the mechanical engineering university. Because of the friendship they gained with Hassan Jamaluddin, they were able to gather the funds necessary to invest in Sarajevo. Now they have even become his business partners. They claim that they will recieve money for the construction of Corridor Vc from the Islamic Bank in Malaysia because the bank is delighted with what they have done in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far.The names Husein and Hasan Čengić were most often mentioned during the war in relation to numerous affairs, most of which were connected to the smuggling of weapons and various fundamentalist terrorism organizations. Čengić was directly connected to mysterious operations in organizations that received assistance from other countries, and it was claimed that he personally founded the terrorism camp in Pogorelica. The Čengić’s have been accused of constructing a military airport in Visoko in which ten million Euros ˝disappeared˝. It was claimed that Husein Čengić was the only man who dared to oppose Alija Izetbegović during the war. His influence is so strong that even today he controls Alija Izetbegović who makes his wishes come true through Sulejman Tihić and Adnad Terzić, the leading politicians in SDA in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Following the request made by the USA, and because of his connection to the Iranian Intelligence Services, Hasan Čengić was removed from his state functions. At the end of last year, Washington put him on the list of persons that are banned entrance to the United States and froze all property that he had in that country. Despite that, Hasan Čengić is still the President of the Committee for foreign politics in the Parliament of BiH and no one has dared to question how he holds such a high function while being on the blacklist in the USA at the same time. Over one year ago, Čengić was the first to publicly declare that Bosmal was going to construct the highway through BiH.

The leading party, SDA, supports the idea that Bosmal receive the construction project for Corridor Vc without a tender because of the close connection between the party, the UMNO party, and Malaysia’s Premier, Mahathir. The friendship between the two parties was made firm during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina when Malaysia assisted Bosnians in their resistance against Serbian aggression and the attempt made by Tudjman’s regime to divide BiH with the Serbians. UMNO is, as highlighted in Sarajevo’s media, most credited for the arrival of SDA to power because they abundantly financed and projected the last election campaign for that party. Furthermore, the Malaysian government conducted secret operations in cooperation with officials from BiH and leading politicians of SDA twice previously. After the United States stopped giving military assistance to BiH because Abu Maali was on BiH territory, the Malaysian government created a secret shelter for that soldier, who was suspected of being a terrorist. Abu Maali led the military operations in BiH and remained living there after the war. SDA and UMNO are tied together because of one more secret operation: it has been confirmed that the Colonel of the Malaysian military, Abdul Manaf Kamusuri established connections with Al Quaede during his visit to BiH alongside other respectable Bosnian officials, one high ranked official of the BiH military, the imam of one mosque, and leading officials from SDA.

Because the issue deals with enormous earnings and profit, the Bosmal case and Ploče port exposed the current problem in BiH: after last year’s elections, many of the persons who were the largest war profiteers came to power, or at least those individuals whose names were mentioned in a range of criminal affairs. They are now using their position to launder dirty money and legalize wealth that was attained through criminal activity. They, of course, are doing this under the mask of protecting national interest.

It is estimated that an additional problem in Sarajevo will be when these mafia groups come to a showdown. It is expected that it will be especially reckless and cruel, more so than in other countries, because Bosnia and Herzegovina is not even close to an orderly legal state or does it function like a normal country.

There are many more justifiable reasons for suspicion towards Bosmal’s offer. If the construction project is assigned without a public tender, the banks will then, due to suspicion of corruption, create more difficult criteria for giving out loans and will increase interest rates. The construction cost will then be raised by hundreds of millions of Euros, maybe even half a million. The final suspicion is Bosmal’s request to receive a twenty-meter wide corridor alongside the highway in which he may choose what facilities to construct. Many are convinced that numerous religious institutions will spring up alongside the highway, and there exists a fear that Bosmal will utilize labour from Asia where many workers could remain in Bosnia after construction is completed. In Sarajevo, it is estimated that they definitely want to strengthen their political influence in BiH.

Malaysia and other political circles in Asia do not hide their desire to make BiH their political and religious center in Europe. Even though it is not the case with the current Malaysian government, there is no political or territorial pretence towards Bosnia and Herzegovina from Croatia. Croatia is vitally interested in assisting BiH in becoming a normal European country in which there will be much better political and transportation connections. Croatia’s problem is that it was late with its offer: Zagreb spent too long solving the debatable issues with BiH, issues such as the port in Ploče, and that unavoidably reminded Sarajevo of the memories from Tudjman’s politics and territorial pretence towards BiH. There is no doubt that the Croatian offer is correct and with good cause. Because of identical problems and similar opinions, Croatian experts would immeasurably solve problems easier and better than any expert in far away Asia would. Croatian experience and know-how in road construction would allow the project to be completed in the fastest way with the highest quality and, what is most important, in the most affordable conditions.

The sensitive problem with the construction of Corridor Vc is that the construction of the highway in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the beginning of the construction of a modern state. The political importance of the Corridor Vc is incalculable: the highway will definitely connect the broken country and its enclave and destroy all artificial national borders. With that, the construction of Corridor Vc will force the government to correct their land registry, solve issues relating to their local administration, solve numerous legal-property issues, bring about urban and location plans, and create an entire range of laws on ecology and the environment. We will not even speak about the economic influence on this project. With the construction of the highway, at least 40 industrial branches will be involved, and there will be an increased need for sand, concrete, asphalt, and other construction material that will be produced by Bosnian companies. With all that, Iron Works in Zenica will have new opportunities. The Bosnian new deal could become the driving force for redevelopment of the economy in BiH. The problem is, however, that these historical decisions were not influenced by logical economic and political arguments but by the interest of the mafia and other criminal groups connected with the head of the Democratic Acton Party (SDA).

Even though not even one meter of the Corridor Vc highway has been constructed through BiH, that project has brought Sarajevo to a historic crossroad. The decision on whether or not the highway will be built by a Croatian company or by the Bosnian-Malaysian Bosmal has various political and economic importances. The individuals that will vote between the Croatian and the Malaysian offer, the citizens, government leaders of BiH, and international projectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will bring about a crucial decision on the future of that country. If they decide to vote for the Croatian company, that will mean that BiH is prepared to make a decisive step towards the Western world, and speed up the process of entering Europe. If in Sarajevo they decide for Bosmal, it will be a clear sign that BiH is turning its back from Europe and becoming a criminal-mafia black hole in the region. If BiH rejects cooperation with Croatia, it will lose its connection with Europe and it will be lost with no return in the world of mafia and criminals, as well as religious and nationalistic extremism.