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 This article lists the prime ministers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the head of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The prime minister is nominated by the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegov ...

from 2001 to 2003. Behmen was a member of the Social Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Behmen was born on 25 December 1940 in Split,

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, present-day Croatia. He graduated in 1969 from the Faculty of Economics at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

, 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

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

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

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

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 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

entity. At the end of 2001, six citizens of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n origin (the so-called " Algerian Six") were accused of planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in

. They were taken into custody in October, and the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

revoked their citizenship in November. After a 3-month-process, the Supreme Court of the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbo-Croatian: ''Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / ''Федерација Босне и Херцеговине'') is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities composing Bo ...

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 A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

, 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 Guantánamo Bay (, ) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off from its immediate hint ...

. 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