In the 1990s, wars and political instability provided an opportunity for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to infiltrate the Balkans. However, U.S. and European peacekeeping troops, aid, and the prospect of Euro-Atlantic integration have helped to bring more stability to the region in recent years. Moreover, the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States underscored for the countries of the region the dangers of global terrorism, and resulted in increased U.S. attention and aid to fight the terrorist threat. In addition, some countries outside of the region, especially Saudi Arabia, which were formerly key sources of terrorists and terrorist financing, have cracked down on Islamic militants, which has in turn had a positive impact on the Balkans. As a result of these factors, many experts currently do not view the Balkans as a key region harboring or funding terrorists, at least when compared to the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe. Nevertheless, experts caution that the region may continue to play a role in terrorist plans, largely as a transit route for terrorists, as well as for bases for attacks in other regions, such as Western Europe. There have also been efforts to recruit people from the region into terrorist groups. Moreover, observers agree that the region's continuing problems leave it vulnerable to terrorist groups in the future. The July 2004 report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (known as the 9/11 Commission) referred to Central and Eastern Europe as a region potentially vulnerable to terrorists, due to significant Muslim populations and weak border controls and security services. This problem may increase if terrorists currently concentrated in Iraq disperse to the Balkans and other regions. Some sources, especially Serbian and Russian experts and officials, have claimed that the Balkans continue to form a more dangerous threat to the United States and neighboring Western Europe than is usually acknowledged. Although large numbers of indigenous Muslims live in the Balkans, due to its poverty and instability the region has not attracted large numbers of Muslim immigrants, who have been an important source of recruits for Islamic extremists in Western Europe. Moreover, opposition to terrorism has been strong among Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Albanians, the largest indigenous Muslim groups in the Balkans. These groups are generally more secular in outlook than Muslims elsewhere. Most view themselves as part of Europe and are grateful for the perceived U.S. role in defending them against Serbian aggression in the 1990s, and for the continuing U.S. contribution to the security of their countries. Charges of terrorism are often used as political weapons among countries or ethnic groups to try to attract international support for their cause. For example, Serbian and Bosnian Serb politicians often make charges of Al Qaeda training camps in Bosnia and Kosovo in an effort to discredit Bosniaks and Albanians. For their part, Bosniak and Albanian leaders deny the charges and accuse the Serbs of supporting "terrorism" by harboring indicted war criminals. Some observers say that the terrorist threat is in fact much less serious than the region's more pressing problems, such as corruption, poverty, and potential political instability. They say that the international focus on the terrorist threat may divert attention from these more relevant issues. On the other hand, this rivalry between groups and the international focus on terrorism may have some positive aspects. It may push countries in the Balkans to cooperate zealously with the United States on terrorism issues, in hopes of securing U.S. support for their regional goals and Euro-Atlantic integration. In addition, there may be additional political support in the United States and other countries for dealing with the region's problems if they are viewed as a potential source of terrorism. Given these factors, perhaps of greater concern to most experts than the existence of a significant Muslim population in the Balkans is the weakness of government institutions, rampant corruption and poverty. However, despite these difficulties, the countries in the region have provided very good cooperation with the United States in the Global War on Terrorism, according to U.S. officials. Consistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted in the post-9/11 fight against terrorism, these countries have worked with the United States and other countries to arrest or expel terrorist suspects, shut down non-governmental organizations linked with terrorism, and freeze or seize assets of persons and groups suspected of terrorist financing. This report focuses on three countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Serbia (including Serbia's Kosovo province, which is currently under international supervision). The report deals with the role of Islamic terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda rather than indigenous nationalist groups pursuing local or regional objectives. After the breakup of Communist Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina was torn apart by a civil war between Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs, and Croats from 1992 to 1995. The war resulted in the deaths of many thousands of persons and the displacement and impoverishment of large parts of the population. A desperate Bosniak-dominated Bosnian government, facing an international arms embargo and outgunned by breakaway Bosnian Serb forces, accepted the help of Iran, as well as several thousand Islamic radicals, mercenaries, and others. The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the conflict, required all foreign forces to leave Bosnia. Most did, but some Islamic radicals remained behind. It is estimated that about 700 to 1,000 former fighters stayed behind in Bosnia after the war and became Bosnian citizens by marrying Bosnian women. Others received citizenship through bribing Bosnian officials. Some Al Qaeda operatives in Bosnia had connections to members of Bosnia's intelligence service, another legacy of Bosniak wartime cooperation with Islamic militants. The experience of the Bosnia conflict has also had an impact on terrorist groups worldwide. Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda figures mention the Bosnian war as a place where Al Qaeda was active, and as an important militant Islamic cause. Terrorist recruiting videos often include footage of combat in Bosnia. In addition to fighters, Bosniaks also received assistance during and after the war from Islamic charities and humanitarian organizations, many of them from Saudi Arabia. Some of these groups served as fronts for Al Qaeda, which used them for planning attacks in Bosnia and elsewhere. In the view of some observers, Saudi Arabian-built mosques at which some extremist foreign and Bosnian clerics continue to preach hatred of the United States and Western countries may enhance terrorist recruiting efforts. According to U.S. officials, the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo and U.S. military bases in Bosnia were subject to several terrorist threats after September 11, 2001. However, Bosnian opposition to terrorism has been broad, despite the still-deep ethnic divide in the country. The United States still enjoys a strong reservoir of support in Bosnia, especially among Bosniaks, for bringing peace to the country and providing post-war aid. The largely secular and European outlook among Bosniaks has caused friction with foreign Islamic extremists. Efforts by the Islamists to recruit Bosniaks into their organizations have met with limited success. Some Bosniaks fear that terrorists will give Bosnia a bad name in Europe, thereby hindering their ability to travel there and setting back Bosnian efforts to join European institutions. On the other hand, some experts are concerned that widespread unemployment among Bosniak youth, coupled with dissatisfaction with U.S. foreign policy, could aid terrorist recruitment. The 2005 State Department terrorism report discusses an Islamist extremist organization called Active Islamic Youth, which is associated with former foreign Islamic fighters in Bosnia. It says that the group engages in outreach activities aimed at Bosnian youth and publishes materials promoting Islamic fundamentalism, religious intolerance, and anti-Western rhetoric. In 2006, a joint U.S.-Croatian intelligence report reportedly said the terrorist groups were attempting to recruit so-called "white Muslims," from Bosnia and other Balkan countries, whose physical appearance might arouse less suspicion in Europe than a person of Middle Eastern appearance. Bosnian officials have offered mixed assessments of this threat: some say that it is a significant concern, while others admit it as a possibility but note that they have no concrete evidence so far for widespread recruiting efforts of this kind. In addition to facing the same problems of poverty and corruption as other countries in the region, Bosnia also suffers from institutional failings that are a result of Bosnia's recent development. The Dayton Peace Accords divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into two semi-autonomous "entities"—the largely Bosniak-Croat Federation and the mainly Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska—with a weak central government. Critics have charged that this structure has stymied Bosnia's efforts to develop effective government institutions. The 2006 State Department Country Reports on Terrorism notes that, while Bosnia's counterterrorism cooperation with the United States was good, the weakness of the Bosnian state "made it vulnerable to exploitation as a terrorist safe haven or as a potential staging ground for terrorist operations in Europe." U.S. and international efforts to strengthen the central government have been resisted by the Bosnian Serbs, who frequently charge the Bosniaks with terrorist ties. In May 2005, Bosnian Serb police chief Dragomir Andan claimed that the terrorists who carried out the March 2004 Madrid bombings had been trained at alleged Al Qaeda camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina. EU police and other officials in Bosnia said that they had seen no evidence to support such charges. Such charges have coincided with an ongoing effort by international officials in Bosnia to put the police, a key pillar of Bosnian Serb leaders' power, under central government control in order to more effectively combat organized crime and terrorism. U.S. officials have lauded Bosnia's efforts in the fight against terrorism.