Alija Izetbegović

Alija Izetbegović (8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, Islamic philosopher and author who served as the president of the presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990 to 1996. He later served as the first chairman of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 1998, and then briefly in 2000. He was also the founder and first president of the Party of Democratic Action.

Shortly after his term began, the country's Serb community under the leadership of the Serb Democratic Party created the Republika Srpska and attempted to prevent the secession of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia. This would lead to the outbreak of the Bosnian War.

As President, Izetbegović served as the political head of the Bosnian government. The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) initially fought in an uneasy alliance with Croat forces. This alliance collapsed when Croat forces, backed by Croatia, launched a military campaign to establish the unrecognized parastate of Herzeg-Bosnia. The resulting Croat–Bosniak War was halted by the 1994 Washington Agreement, which Izetbegović signed with Croatian President Franjo Tuđman.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued, with widespread ethnic cleansing and other war crimes, committed mostly by Bosnian Serb forces against the Bosniak and Croat population throughout Bosnia. This culminated in the massacre of male Bosniaks in Srebrenica by Serb forces which would later be determined to be genocide. Izetbegović was also a signatory for the Dayton Agreement, which ended the war in a stalemate following NATO bombings, and recognized Republika Srpska as an autonomous entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He continued to serve in this role until October 1996, when he became a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving until his resignation in October 2000.

Izetbegović was also the author of several books, most notably Islam Between East and West and the Islamic Declaration.