(Repeats story sent on Aug. 21, without changes to text)
By Daria Sito-Sucic
SARAJEVO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Abdulah Al Sanousi enjoys the breeze in the lush resort outside Sarajevo where his family bought a flat to escape the summer heat at home in Kuwait, one of thousands of new Gulf buyers whose investment has polarized local opinion.
They discovered mountainous Bosnia, where half the population is Muslim, after the Arab Spring which destabilised many traditional holiday destinations such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. The trend has picked up with more direct flights, new resorts and the end of visa restrictions.
Estate agents and local businesses have welcomed the economic boost. But in a secular country where many Muslims drink alcohol and wear European-style clothing, the arrival of a Saudi-built mall where no alcohol is sold and the sight of burqas and traditional Arab robes is worrying for some.
"People from the Middle East come here because of the nature and good weather, and very cheap prices for property and other goods," said 28-year old Sanousi, who works in the media industry in Kuwait.
"Many Muslims feel it's a good place for them, they feel they are with their people, they feel comfortable here," he said in the gated resort that is inhabited mostly by Gulf visitors. It was built by a Kuwaiti investor and opened last year.
The number of visitors from the United Arab Emirates surged to 13,000 in the first seven months of this year from 7,265 last year, according to hotel data from the Sarajevo tourist board. In 2010, there were only 65 visitors from the UAE.
Bosnia does not have a national tourism authority and data on land purchases is patchy in the Balkan country which has a fragmented government system.
Unofficial estimates put the total number of Arab tourists at between 50,000-60,000 a year, with about a quarter buying property.
The visitors bring much needed cast to the economy which has not recovered from the 1990s war.
But many local Muslims, who pray only at mosques or at home, were shocked when a group of Arab men dressed in traditional robes prayed outdoors at a popular weekend resort near Sarajevo last year. Others have been upset by a Saudi-funded mall that serves no alcohol or pork.
"I'm not glad that they are coming," said Amina, a Muslim pharmacist from Sarajevo in her 50s. "I'm worried about what influence they can have on our children if they stayed here."
DELICATE BALANCE
Many Bosnians remember the Arab fighters who came during the 1992-1995 war to fight with Bosnian Muslims against Serbs and Croats, bringing with them a stricter form of Islam which drew followers, some of whom fought in Syria and Iraq for Islamic State.