http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0508-02.htmWhen 20-year-old Ijaz set off for Europe early in 2002 he carried the hopes of his family. Ijaz was the second youngest of the widow's nine children. He ended up "collateral damage" in the war on terror, gunned down by police in the Balkan state of Macedonia, who claimed that he and six others killed were terrorists.
Last week Macedonian officials admitted that this was a lie, and that the shooting was a staged murder, part of a clumsy plot to try to impress the US.
"My son, my beautiful son," wailed Fatima, clutching a photograph of Ijaz. "He was a good boy who just wanted to make things better for his family. How could they shoot him down, like a dog? He was a good Muslim, but he had no time for politics." This week in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, warrants were issued for the arrest of the former interior minister, Ljube Boskovski, in relation to the shooting of Ijaz and the six others.
Several senior police officers have been charged with murder.
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