Izetbegović, Alija

Izetbegović, Alija (1925-2003), president of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1990-1996), and Muslim representative in the three-member collective presidency of the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-2000), the state of the former Yugoslavia that suffered the worst upheaval during the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian War. Born to a Muslim family in Bosanski Samac, in northern Bosnia, Izetbegović graduated with a law degree from the University of Sarajevo. In 1946 he was arrested by Yugoslavia's newly established Communist regime for “pan-Islamic activity” and served three years in prison. On his release, Izetbegović studied law and worked as a legal consultant in Bosnia. He was arrested again in 1983 for disseminating “Islamic propaganda” and sentenced to 14 years in prison, but was released in 1988.

The collapse of Communism throughout Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990 led to the legalization of non-Communist political parties in Yugoslavia's republics. Izetbegović founded the Party of Democratic Action (PDA), a secular-nationalist Bosnian Muslim party, in May 1990. The PDA won a plurality of votes in the November 1990 elections, and Izetbegović became president of a seven-member collective state presidency made up of two representatives each for Muslims, Serbs, and Croats, and one representative for all other groups. As president, Izetbegović attempted to preserve Bosnia and Herzegovina as a multinational republic after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, but tension among the various ethnic groups, and demands by Bosnian Serbs for a separate state or union with Serbia, led to civil war when independence was internationally recognized in April 1992. By mid-1994 efforts by the United Nations and the European Union had failed to stop the fighting. Izetbegović led Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian War, frequently calling for greater international support for his beleaguered nation. In March 1994 a new constitution organized to unify Bosnians and Croats made Izetbegović president of a new collective federation.

He played a key role in the negotiations for the November 1995 Dayton Peace Accord, which ended the war but divided the country into the Bosnian-Croat federation and a slightly smaller Serb entity. The Accord also led to the creation of a three-person presidency, and Izetbegović was returned as Muslim representative in the September 1996 presidential elections. He was appointed chair of the presidency that contained Kresimir Zubak, as Croat representative, and Momcilo Krajisnik as the Serb representative. In October 1996 he negotiated full diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). In the same month he also joined in negotiations to establish common institutions with the breakaway Serb republic. He welcomed Pope John Paul II on a pastoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1997. Following the presidential elections of September 1998, Izetbegović, who had not faced a serious challenge for his position, ceded the chairmanship of the presidency to Zivko Radisic, the new Serb representative who had defeated Krajisnik. The Croat nationalist Ante Jelavic defeated Zubak as Croat representative. Izetbegović resigned from the collective presidency in August 2000, citing ill-health and old age, and was succeeded as Muslim representative by Halid Genjac, who had been speaker of the House of Representatives. In October 2001 he retired from the leadership of the PDA.