OCCASIONAL PAPER BY KCSS 04/2015 Kosovar Center for Security Studies Report inquiring into the causes and consequences of Kosovo citizens’ involvement as foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq April, 2015 Kosovar Center for Security Studies Report inquiring into the causes and consequences of Kosovo citizens’ involvement as foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq April, 2015 Author: Shpend Kursani Researcher: Skender Perteshi Assistant researchers: Flamur Sallahu Catherine Lefèvre Krenare Loxhaj Internal review: Florian Qehaja Mentor Vrajolli Editing: Jacob Phillipps April, 2015 © All rights reserved by Kosovar Center for Security Studies. Intellectual property rights are protected under the Law on Copyright and Related Rights 2011/04-L-065. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. Disclaimer: This project was funded through a U.S. Embassy, Pristina grant. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the Author and the Kosovar Center for Security Studies and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State. CONTENTS 1. KEY FINDINGS �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 2. INTROductiON ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������17 3. MetHODOLOGY ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21 4. THE CONTEXT �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24 5. EXTERNAL CONDITIONS AND influences ......................................................................................30 5.1. The roots of conservative religious ideas.........................................................................................................30 5.2. Dissemination of conservative religious ideas in Kosovo ..........................................................................36 5.3. The roots of violent extremist ideas ..................................................................................................................43 5.4. Dissemination of violent extremism in Kosovo .............................................................................................51 6. INTERNAL CONDITIONS AND influences .......................................................................................59 6.1. Conditions facilitating religious ideas ...............................................................................................................59 6.2. Conditions facilitating violent extremist ideas and groups ......................................................................66 6.2.1. Particular personal characteristics ...................................................................................................67 6.2.2. Education and attitude towards it ....................................................................................................69 6.2.3. Family and social conditions .............................................................................................................70 6.2.4. The concept of ‘shahid’ and personal characteristics ..................................................................72 6.2.5. Family and social isolation and alienation ....................................................................................75 7. Instruments facilitatinG VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND RECRUITMENT ............................77 7.1. The issue with mosques and imams (Takfir vs. non-Takfir) ........................................................................77 7.2. Dormitories and other private spaces ...............................................................................................................80 7.3. The internet ................................................................................................................................................................81 7.4. Finances .......................................................................................................................................................................85 8. THE PROCESS �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������92 9. THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES ....................................................................................................93 9.1. Implications of dealing with the consequences ...........................................................................................93 9.2. Implications of double standards .......................................................................................................................94 9.3. Implications of the two extremes in (public) discourse .............................................................................95 9.4. The BIK .........................................................................................................................................................................97 10. RECOmmendatiONS ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 101 TaBLE OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1: Period when foreign fighters from Kosovo joined the rebel groups in Syria (n=226) ............27 Figure 2: Currently known location of foreign fighters from Kosovo (n=210) .............................................28 Figure 3: Views on Islam (global) ..................................................................................................................................57 Figure 4: Views on Islam (Kosovo) ................................................................................................................................57 Figure 5: Trust in religious institutions (urban/rural) ............................................................................................60 Figure 6: Commitment to a cause (urban/rural) .....................................................................................................60 Figure 7: Commitment to a cause (age groups) .....................................................................................................65 Figure 8: Trust in religious institutions (age groups) .............................................................................................66 Figure 9: Kosovo foreign fighters in Syria according to year of birth (n=199) .............................................68 Figure 10: Level of education of Kosovo foreign fighters (n=57) .....................................................................69 Figure 11: Previous criminal records of Kosovo foreign fighters (n=210)......................................................73 Figure 12: The dialectics of extremisms .....................................................................................................................97 Figure 13: Treatment of Kosovo foreign fighters upon return (age groups) .............................................103 TABLES Table 1: Number of foreign fighters from Western Europe, Balkans, US, and Russia .................................25 Table 2: Differences between the Islamic legal schools, ......................................................................................40 DIAGrams Diagram 1: Sources of dissemination of extremist Takfiri ideas into Kosovo and the region ................56 Diagram 2: Conditions and process facilitating the phenomenon of foreign fighters ............................92 1. KEY FINDINGS 7 The context • Among the 22 Western states which include those throughout Europe, the US, Russia, and Turkey, from which most of the foreign fighters are suspected to have joined militant organisations in Syria and Iraq, Kosovo is ranked eighth, with 232 confirmed cases (until mid-January). Currently, around 30 percent of the confirmed total cases of foreign fight- ers from Kosovo are considered to still be with rebel groups in Syria; • Kosovo has 125 foreign fighters per capita for every 1 million citizens, making it the high- est ranking country among the 22 listed countries, followed by Bosnia with 85, Belgium with 42, and Albania with 30 cases of foreign fighters per capita for every 1 million citi- zens; • In terms of the number of foreign fighters per capita amongst their Muslim population, Kosovo is in the bottom half of the list of countries, ranked 14th among 22 countries with the highest number of foreign fighters per capita of their respective Muslim popula- tions. Of the 22 countries listed, this report finds that it is the Muslim population of the non-Muslim majority countries that are mostly affected by the phenomenon of foreign fighters; • The majority, or 54 percent of the foreign fighters from Kosovo, have joined the conflicts in Syria during 2013, a period when ISIS was consolidated and when its recruitment in- tensified; • Until now, Kosovo institutions have taken a number of steps in their efforts to fight vi- olent extremism. This includes, amongst others, the arrest of more than 80 individuals (January 2015) under suspicions of being involved in terrorist actions or organisations. Syria and Iraq in fighters as