Alija Behmen (25 December 1940 – 1 August 2018) was a Bosnian politician who served as the 36th mayor of Sarajevo from 2009 to 2013, and was a member of the

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. He also served as Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2001 to 2003.

Early life and education

Behmen was born on 25 December 1940 in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, present-day Croatia. He graduated in 1969 from the

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at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

, where he later presented a doctoral dissertation in the field of modeling transport costs and their impact on the reproduction and development of the economy. In 1974, Behmen defended his master's degree in

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. From 1970, he worked at the Institute of Economics in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

and at the Sarajevo State Technical University as responsible for technological and economic functions. He was also Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of the ŽTO Sarajevo. From 1978 to 1980, Behmen chaired the PO Interšped Workers' Organization. He was then appointed Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Transport and Communications.

Political career

In the 1998 general election, as a candidate of the

, Behmen was elected member of the Sarajevo Cantonal Assembly and deputy chairman of the Federal House of Peoples. From March 2001 until February 2003, he served as Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity. At the end of 2001, six citizens of

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n origin (the so-called " Algerian Six") were accused of planning a terrorist attack on the

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. They were taken into custody in October, and the

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revoked their citizenship in November. After a 3-month-process, the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered their release based on lack of evidence. According to documents filed by the detainee's American lawyers in their U.S. federal court habeas action, Christopher Hoh, the then U.S. chargé d'affaires, had told then Behmen that the U.S. would cut all diplomatic relations if the men were not arrested. Eventually, the Council of Ministers yielded to the demand, and the six were deported to Guantánamo Bay. In the 2006 general election, Behmen was elected member of the Federal House of Representatives. He left the post in January 2009, after being appointed mayor of Sarajevo. Behmen served as mayor until March 2013.

Death

On 1 August 2018, Behmen died in

at the age of 77. He was buried in Sarajevo at the Bare Cemetery on 3 August, two days after his death.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Behmen, Alija 1940 births 2018 deaths Politicians from Split, Croatia Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo alumni Academic staff of the University of Sarajevo Politicians of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Prime ministers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mayors of Sarajevo Burials at Bare Cemetery, Sarajevo