PULA, Croatia (Reuters) - Greeted by thousands of cheering supporters, former Bosnian warlord Fikret Abdic, one of the most controversial figures of the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia, walked free on March 9 after serving 10 years in prison for war crimes.
Abdic went from communist to corrupt capitalist to leader of a Bosnian Muslim splinter group during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war in a career epitomising the fickle loyalties and thirst for profit that often lurked behind the fighting.
He was jailed for the murder and detention of fellow Muslims during the war, but still commands support in his native northwest Bosnia as the former owner of a once-mighty food and agriculture comglomerate that employed thousands.
Some 2,000-3,000 supporters travelled by bus and car to the north Croatian coastal town of Pula to greet his release, chanting his nickname ‘Babo’, or Papa.
"Our battle now is a battle against poverty," the 72-year-old told them.
His daughter now runs a political party in the region.
Abdic served 10 years of a 15-year sentence for war crimes stemming from when he ran his own fiefdom centred on the town of Velika Kladusa in northwest Bosnia as the country was torn apart in fighting between Serbs, Croats and Muslims.
Though a Muslim himself, Abdic split from Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic early in the war, declared his native enclave autonomous and installed himself as president.
He dealt in arms and favours with all sides, and commanded the loyalty of some 50,000 people thanks in part to his Agrokomerc company, which employed 13,000 of them and produced the popular Yugoslav version of Jaffa Cakes.
Abdic was accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the company during the brief period of market reform before Yugoslavia’s collapse, but made a comeback in the Bosnian elections of 1990 before the republic declared independence from Yugoslavia.
"He looked more like a character from a South American novel than a Balkan businessman, politician, ruler and criminal," Bosnian writer Muharem Bazdulj wrote in the Serbian weekly Vreme.
"From no other war-leadership career as from Abdic’s is it so clear that at the very heart of darkness of the wars of the nineties hid economic motives, theft and hunger for profit."
Addressing his supporters, Abdic vowed to return to Velika Kladusa to rebuild Agrokomerc. The company has been brought to its knees by mismangement, and it is unclear whether Abdic has any legal claim to ownership.
"I read the news and saw that Abdic plans at first to hire 5,000 people," said supporter Nurija Karajic, who wore a white-t-shirt bearing a photo of Abdic.
Abdic gave no indication whether he planned to re-launch his political career, and was expected to live for the timebeing in the picturesque Croatian fishing town of Volosko where his family own property.
He is widely quoted as once saying, "I don’t advocate any option, I have no ideas and I can agree to anything."
