POD: Ljiljianima Babo
Bison
Banned
Ljiljianima Babo
Translation: Keep (lit: protect/guard) Yugoslavia
When Alija Izetbegovic, a Bosniak politician of Islamist leanings, became Chairman of the seven-member Presidency in SR Bosnia, the Yugoslav state, previously held together by Tito and a one party state, was already being torn apart as ethnonationalists plotted its dismemberment. In mid 1991, the war in Slovenia, the wealthiest and northernmost of the six republics, had come to an end. Meanwhile, the issue of Croatian independence was only a matter of time, as Franjo Tudjman battled with an angry Serb minority in the eastern and southern parts of his country. At the center of it all, Bosnia, a nation with no majority, stood to be brutally torn apart.
Translation: Keep (lit: protect/guard) Yugoslavia
In April 1992, while Izetbegovic was in Lisbon discussing a possible solution to the Yugoslav conflict, war began as the Serb-dominated JNA (Yugoslav National Army) sought to take matters in its own hands. Facing stiff resistance, it quickly secured much of the country and parts of it's capital, Sarajevo. Unbeknownst to Izetbegovic, by the 1st and 2nd of May, they had also secured the Sarajevo airport in the westernmost part of the town (Ilidza), where the plane carrying Alija Izetbegovic and his daughter Sabina was about to make landing.
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Alija Izetbegovic, May 2nd, 1992
May 2, 1998
Mediators from the European Community had arranged his flight to Lisbon, and had promised to guarantee his safe return back to Sarajevo.
But that is not how it worked out.
Nearing the airport, the pilot could not seem to make contact with the air traffic control on the ground. While this may have seen suspicious at first, this was not the first time Alija had been in an airplane. Sarajevo was located in a valley; the hills that surround it and the fog, clouds, and, especially in the winter and spring, smog from the factories in Vogosca (A) and Konjic (B) often serve to make the landing a difficult affair. Alija told the pilot to go ahead and try to land anyway - the tensions that were beginning to mount made him nervous, and, if they were to boil over, it was critical for him to be present as a unifying figure for the Bosniak people.
As they were landing, however they could see tanks aiming at the runway and men wearing JNA uniforms all aiming at the runway. It was too late to turn around. Surely, however, the promised EC protection had already arrived. When Alija and is daughter exited the plane, a group of army officers came to pick them up. The plane took off immediately. They were taken to an office inside the airport building. The senior officer invited them to sit down, in the midst of half a dozen young soldiers nonchalantly pointing their semi-automatic rifles at the Izetbegovics. They waited. Both parties were confused and neither knew what to do. Alija asked for the EC-mediated protection, and, when he was told no one else was present, he demanded a phone to call for them. The officer refused, claiming that the lines had been cut due to a storm.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Instinctively, Sabina grabbed for it. The officer pushed her aside, but not before Alija grabbed the receiver "Dear Lady, this is-.."(C) He was cut off by a sequence of shots. Sabina let out a scream. She was shot and she was bleeding. Her father lay motionless on the ground, four holes in his chest. Soon, Sabina herself had lost consciousness.
The officer stared intensely at the young man, barely 17, that seemed to have hit the trigger. The goal of the operation was to secure Alija and his daughter to be released in exchange for the Serb Colonel-General Kukanjac, who was being held hostage in central Sarajevo. The JNA soldiers hauled Alija and Sabina into a truck, from where they were brought to a nearby military infirmary. The officer, it seems, would have to phone HQ.
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POD: ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC IS KILLED ON MAY 2ND, 1992 UPON HIS RETURN FROM LISBON
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(A) Major Volkswagen factory from the 70s. Wasnt destroyed or bombed during the war, and as such has no damage on the outside. However, there was significant vandalism and theft. This, along with hundreds of other factors, lead to the factory disbanding about 80-90% of it's employees. I pass this on my daily commute. POD: ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC IS KILLED ON MAY 2ND, 1992 UPON HIS RETURN FROM LISBON
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(B) Konjic has very large and very dirty steel works from Yugoslav times, sold a couple of years ago to investors from India whom I've, by the way, met on several occasions.
(C) So far, all OTL based on Sabina Izetbegovic's recounts.
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Note: This is my first timeline on this forum, any advice, opinion, or help is encouraged and appreciated. Also, I'd disclaim that I am NOT a Serb, Croat, or Bosniak, but that I spent much of my youth in this country, speak the language, and love it as my own. I will try to refrain from any political bias, nor is it a Serb, Muslim, or Croat 'wank', so to speak.
Bibliography
Inescapable Questions: Autobiographical Notes, Alija Izetbegović, The Islamic Foundation, 2003
Historija Bošnjaka by Mustafa Imamović (1996), Sarajevo
Damon, Dan. “'When My Father Was Taken Captive in Sarajevo' - BBC News.” BBC, BBC, 2 May 2012, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17913518.
The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the War in Bosnia, Carol Rogel, 1998
etc.
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