The mufti of the Islamic Community of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Xhemaledin Hasani, said on Oct. 18 that ethnic Albanian Muslims would not recognize any agreement on the unification of the Islamic Community of Serbia because they had not been represented in any talks on the issue.

Hasani told BETA that nobody from the Islamic communities led by reis Adem Zilkic and mufti Muamer Zukorlic in Sandzak had contacted Albanians living in southern Serbia. He stressed that, therefore, they were in no way included in the negotiations being conducted with Turkish mediation.

"The Islamic Community of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja is registered with the Serbian Ministry of Religious Affairs, and we request and expect to be part of the negotiations between the two Islamic communities in Serbia. Both Zilkic and Zukorlic must bear in mind that we do exist and that we will not recognize the results of their agreements if we do not participate in them," Hasani said.

He added that in addition to the Islamic Community of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, the Committee of the Islamic Community of Kosovo was also active in the three municipalities in the south of Serbia and, as of recently, was working within Zukorlic's Islamic Community in Serbia. "Nobody from that committee is participating in the talks between the two Islamic communities in Serbia, either" Hasani said.