Sayeret
10-03-2004, 01:01 PM
In April the U.S. State Department published its latest annual report on terrorism world-wide. The report is a yearly reappraisal of world terrorism required by the United States Congress. It includes information on international terrorist organizations, a yearly chronicle of terror attacks, and a report on states sponsoring terrorism. This last section has a special impact on U.S. foreign policy, as those states designated supporters of terrorism are subject to diplomatic and economic sanctions. This year’s report shed light on some important features of the current international terror scene.
Number of terrorist incidents decreased, Number of casualties rose
There was a decrease in the number of international terror attacks (the lowest since the beginning of the 90’s. At the same time there was a sharp increase of the number of casualties. This cannot be attributed solely to the deadly results of the simultaneous attacks on the American embassies in East Africa, although they definitely contributed to the total high number of casualties this year.
Sunni Extremism
The Sunni Muslim terror groups, dominated by the “Afghan alumni” continued to play a major role in the international arena. This phenomenon—epitomized by the Saudi millionaire Osama bin Ladin, himself, an Afghan alumnus—was institutionalized when Bin Ladin announced in February ‘98 the creation of an Islamic coalition called “The International Islamic front for Jihad against the Jews & the Crusaders.”
Effective counter-terrorism
Despite the “successful” attacks carried out by the al-Qaida/Islamic Front in Kenya and Tanzania, Bin Ladin’s coalition suffered a serious setback due to the countermeasures taken against its members by the United States and its allies. Some of al-Qaida’s leading figures were arrested in various countries, primarily in the UK, Germany and Italy. Several of these were extradited to the United States. The Egyptian terror groups, who play a major role in the Islamic terror network also suffered a heavy blow from the security forces in Egypt. With the active cooperation of the U.S. Egypt arrested a few dozen terrorists from the al-Jihad group in countries as diverse as Azarbiejan, Albania, South Africa, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Most of these were to Egypt to stand trial. These arrests badly crippled the Front’s current capabilities, while possibly increasing their motivation for retaliatory attacks against their adversaries.
Throughout 1998 the United States pushed for vigorous punitive action against Islamic terrorism. At the beginning of the year Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to 240 years in prison by a United States federal court. Following the bombings of the embassies in East Africa, the U.S. lead a world-wide manhunt for members of bin Laden’s network, resulting in the extradition of several of the organization’s senior members from Britain and Germany.
State-sponsored terrorism
The “traditional” state sponsors of terrorism have been very careful to avoid any direct involvement in international terrorist activity in 1998. Iran, despite its continuous support for various terrorist organizations, has been relegated to a secondary role in this year’s report. This is due to the desire on the part of the U.S. for an improvement in relations with Iran. Thus, as a gesture of political good will Iran was not defined as the primary state-sponsor of terrorism. However Iran continues to exert great influence on international terrorism through its continuos aid to groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, PIJ, GIA, Gama’a al-Islamiya and others. Primarily this aid takes the form of training and upgrading the capabilities of these groups to carry out attacks.
Number of terrorist incidents decreased, Number of casualties rose
There was a decrease in the number of international terror attacks (the lowest since the beginning of the 90’s. At the same time there was a sharp increase of the number of casualties. This cannot be attributed solely to the deadly results of the simultaneous attacks on the American embassies in East Africa, although they definitely contributed to the total high number of casualties this year.
Sunni Extremism
The Sunni Muslim terror groups, dominated by the “Afghan alumni” continued to play a major role in the international arena. This phenomenon—epitomized by the Saudi millionaire Osama bin Ladin, himself, an Afghan alumnus—was institutionalized when Bin Ladin announced in February ‘98 the creation of an Islamic coalition called “The International Islamic front for Jihad against the Jews & the Crusaders.”
Effective counter-terrorism
Despite the “successful” attacks carried out by the al-Qaida/Islamic Front in Kenya and Tanzania, Bin Ladin’s coalition suffered a serious setback due to the countermeasures taken against its members by the United States and its allies. Some of al-Qaida’s leading figures were arrested in various countries, primarily in the UK, Germany and Italy. Several of these were extradited to the United States. The Egyptian terror groups, who play a major role in the Islamic terror network also suffered a heavy blow from the security forces in Egypt. With the active cooperation of the U.S. Egypt arrested a few dozen terrorists from the al-Jihad group in countries as diverse as Azarbiejan, Albania, South Africa, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Most of these were to Egypt to stand trial. These arrests badly crippled the Front’s current capabilities, while possibly increasing their motivation for retaliatory attacks against their adversaries.
Throughout 1998 the United States pushed for vigorous punitive action against Islamic terrorism. At the beginning of the year Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to 240 years in prison by a United States federal court. Following the bombings of the embassies in East Africa, the U.S. lead a world-wide manhunt for members of bin Laden’s network, resulting in the extradition of several of the organization’s senior members from Britain and Germany.
State-sponsored terrorism
The “traditional” state sponsors of terrorism have been very careful to avoid any direct involvement in international terrorist activity in 1998. Iran, despite its continuous support for various terrorist organizations, has been relegated to a secondary role in this year’s report. This is due to the desire on the part of the U.S. for an improvement in relations with Iran. Thus, as a gesture of political good will Iran was not defined as the primary state-sponsor of terrorism. However Iran continues to exert great influence on international terrorism through its continuos aid to groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, PIJ, GIA, Gama’a al-Islamiya and others. Primarily this aid takes the form of training and upgrading the capabilities of these groups to carry out attacks.