Alija Behmen

Alija Behmen (25 December 1940 – 1 August 2018) was a Bosnian politician who served as the 36th mayor of Sarajevo from 2009 to 2013. He also served as Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2001 to 2003.

Political career In the 1998 general election, as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party, 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 Algerian origin (the so-called "Algerian Six") were accused of planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo. They were taken into custody in October, and the Council of Ministers 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 Sarajevo at the age of 77.