Fikret Abdić

Fikret Abdić (born 29 September 1939), also known as Babo, is a Bosnian politician and businessman who first rose to prominence in the 1980s for his role in turning the Velika Kladuša-based agriculture company Agrokomerc into one of the biggest conglomerates in SFR Yugoslavia.

[7] After completing his studies in agronomy, Abdić, as a relatively young engineer, became the director of the Agricultural Cooperative (Agrokomerc) in Velika Kladuša.

By raising the small agricultural cooperative into a modern food combine which employed over 13,000 workers, the economy of the entire area was boosted and living standards improved, in a region previously unindustrialized and undeveloped.

Tops biscuits, Agrokomerc's main product (a copy of the Jaffa Cakes), almost pushed its more famous predecessor off the market, in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[8] He ran the company with strong political backing from influential politician Hamdija Pozderac and his brother, Hakija,[9] utilizing combined socialist and capitalist methods.

[9] Another of his controversial moves was erecting a monument to an Ottoman Bosnian başbölükbaşı, Mujo Hrnjica, on a hill above Velika Kladuša.

[14] According to NIN, Abdić briefly appeared in Sarajevo when the Bosnian War broke out, hoping to assume the presidency after Izetbegović had been arrested by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).

Amidst conflicts between Croats and Muslims in 1993, Abdić advocated strongly for negotiations as the only viable alternative to cease the bloodshed, stressing the responsibility to create a negotiation-friendly atmosphere.

[17] Lord Owen, an English diplomat and co-author of the Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans described Abdić as "forthright, confident and different from the Sarajevan Muslims.

"[18] Using his expansive network of business connections, Abdić was able to keep the city supplied with consumer goods such as cigarettes, coffee, and detergent, even as it was under siege by Serb forces.

The 5th Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) located there lacked proper weaponry and couldn't protect Bihać if attacked.

The Republic of Western Bosnia collapsed after it was jointly seized by the ARBiH and the Croatian Army (HV) during the Operation Storm that started in August 1995.

[32] Abdić ran for the position of Bosniak member of the Bosnian presidency in 2002 on the Democratic People's Community party ticket in 2002 and won 4.1% of the vote.

[35] He was put in pre-trial detention, but was released in late October after his lawyers petitioned the court to allow him to take part in the re-election campaign for the 2020 Bosnian municipal elections in November that year, which he narrowly won with 44.1 percent of the vote.

[36] In March 2021 prosecutors formally indicted Abdić and six other municipal officials on charges of graft related to procurement tenders.