*EPF211 05/01/01
Global Terrorist Attacks Rose 8 Percent in 2000
(405 persons were killed by terrorists worldwide) (940)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Terrorist attacks rose 8 percent in 2000, but the United States will not let up in the fight to rein in international terrorism, says Secretary of State Colin Powell.
"Terrorism is a persistent disease," he said April 30 during a briefing on the release of the State Department's "Patterns of Global Terrorism: 2000" report. "You have heard me speak of the positive side of globalization, but terrorism shows the dark side as it exploits the easing of travel restrictions, the improvements of communication, or the internationalization of banking and finance, making it easier for terrorists to do some of their work."
But Powell said the United States will not let up on nations that sponsor terrorism and the terrorist groups themselves.
"We are achieving the basic objectives of the United States counterterrorism strategy -- isolation of countries and groups that support terrorism, disruption of terrorist planning and operations, sharing of information, and the apprehension and trial of perpetrators," he said. "Just as we acknowledge successes today, we know that there will be new challenges and, yes, some setbacks tomorrow."
The U.S. government defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience," the report said.
While state-sponsored terrorism has declined over the past several decades, seven governments -- Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria -- remain on the list of state sponsors of international terrorism, the report said. The designation of state sponsors of terrorism is a mechanism for isolating nations using terrorism as a means of political expression, it said. The list, which imposes strict sanctions, has remained unchanged since Sudan was added in 1993.
Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator Edmund Hull said that Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2000, and has been actively promoting terrorism against the Middle East peace process.
"This is a longstanding activity by the Iranian Government. "They have used as their surrogates in this, not only the organizations ... HAMAS, Hizballah -- but also the Palestinian Islamic Jihad [PIJ]. I believe it is clear that Iran is encouraging these organizations to act individually and to act in concert."
Hull said "it is a significant threat."
However, the report said the State Department is engaged in ongoing discussions with North Korea and Sudan to help them halt support for terrorist groups and eventually be removed from the terrorism list.
The report lists 29 groups that are currently designated by the secretary of state as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), and another 15 terrorist groups that have not been designated as FTOs.
Iraq continues to be a safe haven and support base for a variety of Palestinian rejectionist groups, the report said. It also offers bases, weapons, and protection to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian terrorist group that opposes the current Iranian regime, the report said.
Syria continues to provide safe haven and support to several terrorist groups, while Libya has been attempting to remove itself from providing support for terrorist groups, the report said. "Cuba continued to provide safe haven to several terrorists and U.S. fugitives and maintained ties to state sponsors and Latin American insurgents," it said.
Sudan also continues to serve as safe haven for members of al-Qaida, the Lebanese Hizballah, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the PIJ, and HAMAS, but it has also begun counterterrorism talks with the United States, the report said.
Hull said Sudan "is perhaps the most active area in which we have a state sponsor striving to get out of the terrorism business."
The annual terrorism report, which is required by the U.S. Congress, said terrorist attacks in 2000 rose to 423 international incidents, up from 392 reported in 1999. At the same time, the number of casualties caused by terrorists also rose to 405 people killed and 791 wounded, compared with 233 dead and 706 wounded in 1999, according to the report.
The upsurge in terrorist attacks was attributed to the number of bombings of a multinational oil pipeline in Colombia by two terrorist groups, the report said. "The pipeline was bombed 152 times, producing in the Latin American region the largest increase in terrorist attacks from the previous year, from 121 to 193."
Western Europe, however, declined from 85 to 30, "owing to fewer attacks in Germany, Greece, and Italy as well as to the absence of any attacks in Turkey," the report said.
"The number of anti-U.S. attacks rose from 169 in 1999 to 200 in 2000, a result of the increase in bombing attacks against the oil pipeline in Colombia, which is viewed by the terrorists as a U.S. target," the report said.
The State Department report said 19 U.S. citizens were killed in acts of terrorism last year, and 17 were sailors who died in the bombing attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole on October 12 in the Yemeni port of Aden.
Two other U.S. citizens were murdered in terrorist attacks in 2000, the report said:
-- Carlos Caceres was one of three aid workers murdered when a militia-led mob in Atambua, West Timor, attacked a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees aid office on September 6.
-- Kurt Erich Schork was one of two journalists killed when rebels in Sierra Leone shot down a U.N. helicopter May 25.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Website: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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