Newsletter: 05/05/02

1. Africa
2. Americas
3. Asia Pacific
4. Europe
5. Middle East
6. South Asia
7. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
8. Finance
9. Human Rights
10 Law and Legal Issues
11. Narco-terrorism
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
Narco-Terrorism

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1. Africa

The United Nations (UN) has arrived in Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to restart the stalled peace talks.

Ethiopia has reopened its borders, which had been closed for a week, to the UN peacekeepers. Confusion over the UNs border report continues, regarding whether the town of Badme belongs in Ethiopia or Eritrea.

Gambia has passed a law whereby a special media commission will regulate the actions of journalists, who are now required to register with the commission and follow their code of conduct.

In Liberia, President Charles Taylor has banned all political gatherings, as part of the ongoing state of emergency called as the result of a number of rebel attacks. Human Rights Watch has urged that UN to renew sanctions against Liberia, citing wide-ranging crimes against civilians.

The situation in Madagascar continues to deteriorate. The High Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the ballots from the December election and declared opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana the winner (with 51.46% against 35.9%). President Didier Ratsiraka rejected this decision. He is maintaining a government in exile, has not removed the blockades against the capital, and threatens to secede along with the governors of states who support him.

Famine in Malawi has led to general desperation and acts of brutal violence. International aid is urgently needed.

In Mali the votes in the presidential election are still being counted, amid widespread confusion and accusations of voting irregularities.

Violence in Nigeria has led to some 20 deaths in political clashes. Also, in defiance of the government, Sharia law has been introduced in the southern Oyo state.

In Senegal, separatist rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) have robbed and killed five in a roadside ambush.

Uganda has accused the Lords Resistance Army of an attack that killed 60 people who were travelling to a burial.

State-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe increases, with large numbers of people displaced, killed, and imprisoned. Press restrictions and arrests continue. Farm seizures, including equipment, are underway amid allegations they are benefiting President Robert Mugabes associates, rather than the poor. Mr. Mugabe has declared a state of disaster due to food shortages.

2. Americas

The government of Canada has introduced a revised anti-terrorism bill to address some of the prior concerns over civil rights. They currently have a budget of Canadian $7.7 billion for improved security. Efforts include an investigation into possible links to Nizar Nawar, the truck bomber at the synagogue in Tunisia. Canadian troops have also joined operations in Afghanistan directed against al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Violence in Colombia has increased dramatically. With the end of the peace process and start of election campaigns, bombings and kidnappings have picked up, killing at least 100 in the last week. The US is now actively supporting the Colombian government, freeing aid to support security in addition to counter-narcotics efforts. Six FARC rebels were indicted for the 1999 killings of three Americans.

Despite thorough investigations, no links between Colombian terrorists and al Qaeda or similar international groups have been uncovered. Although individuals associated with, for example, the IRA (see the feature articles from last week, and the week before) have visited Colombian rebels, there has been no evidence they were directed by their organizations.

Note: The April 28 edition of the New York Times magazine has an interesting article on child assassins in Colombia. (See Recently Published)

Human rights workers in Guatemala are under threat, probably from former military and intelligence forces that are not eager for investigations into atrocities conducted during the civil war. Threats include beatings, kidnapping, threats, and one person has been shot.

US investigations into the attacks of September 11 have borne little fruit. For example, research into terrorist financing has led to an indictment for perjury and a fraud conviction, but no links to terrorists. Even more important, the meetings that Mohammed Atta, the leading hijacker, was supposed to have held with Iraqi officials never took place, eliminating the link between those attacks and Iraq.

US efforts in the Middle East have also yielded few gains. Most promising is collaboration with Saudi Arabia to try to begin a peace process following the recent visit of Crown Prince Abdullah.

It appears US and Russian negotiators are close to an agreement on reducing their nuclear weapons stockpiles.

A series of pipe bombs, containing anti-government messages, have been planted inside rural mailboxes in the US states of Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. There have been several injuries but no fatalities in a series of incidents thought to be the work of domestic terrorists.

Venezuela continues investigation into deaths of anti-Chavez protestors that preceded the short-lived coup. President Chavez has reorganized his cabinet and the Commission for National Dialog in Venezuela has held its first meetings, beginning a national reconciliation process.

3. Asia Pacific

The Burmese government says that Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy opposition party, has been unconditionally released from 20 months of house arrest.

East Timor prepares to celebrate its independence. It appears likely that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri will attend the celebrations.

Religious violence in Indonesia between Christians and Muslims has killed at least 14. Jafar Umar Thalib, head of Laskar Jihad, an Islamic militant group, has been arrested in connection with the attacks.

North Korea and the US are renewing diplomatic contacts, despite US President Bushs characterization of North Korea as part of an "axis of evil".

In the Philippines, the Islamic militant and bandit group Abu Sayyaf, denies receiving a ransom for the kidnapped Burnhams. Four rebels accused of involvement in the General Santos bombing, were killed in a gun fight with police. Other militants have been arrested, including Abu Sayyaf intelligence officer Salid Abdullah, accused of kidnapping and murder, and nine men from the Islamic militant group Jama-Ah-Islamiya, accused of associations with al Qaeda and found during raids on a training camp within which weapons were seized.

4. Europe

Anti-Semitic attacks have occurred across Europe, amidst a growing swing to the right as shown by the recent French and British elections.

The European Union has blocked the assets of eleven international terrorist organizations including the AUC, Aum Shrinrikyo, Lashkar-e-Taiba Mujahedeen e Khalq, and the Shining Path. The Kurdish separatist group, PKK, has also been put on the list. However, they still do not include Hizbollah or Hamas, although individuals within those organizations are listed.

In France, Jacques Chirac was handily re-elected President, following massive protests against the far-right leader Jean-MarieLe pen. For detailed coverage of the election, click HERE.

Georgia has welcomed the arrival of US anti-terrorist training troops.

Germany believes the driver of the truck that exploded outside the Tunisian synagogue has ties to al Qaeda. Another German victim of this attack has died, bring the death toll to 19.

Italian media company Vivendi will reconvene shareholders for a new meeting and new votes in June following irregularities in the voting alleged to be the work of hackers.

A bomb in Russia that killed seven may be the work of Chechen rebels or a part of a mafia war. Chechen warlord Omar ibn al Khattab has been killed by a poisoned letter sent by a messenger associated with the Russian government.

Russia continues discussions with the US on nuclear arms reductions.

Basque separatist group ETA continues its bombing campaign with targets against the tourist industry, most recently with two car bombs near the soccer stadium prior to the European Champions League match. Meanwhile, Spanish police believe that their investigation into ETA financing has succeeded in disrupting the organization. In this regard, they have arrested eleven leaders of the Batsuna separatist party.

Turkey has agreed to assume command of the Afghanistan security force in Kabul, Afghanistan, in June.
The Kurdish separatist group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which recently announced a name change and cessation of armed struggle, has been added to terrorist lists in Europe and the US.

In the United Kingdom, British troops are in operation in Afghanistan, searching for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Scottish police have held six men, suspected loyalists, under the Terrorism Act. And in Northern Ireland, there was a bomb outside a prison, three bombs disarmed, and riots occurred in five areas of Belfast, but the focus has been on strengthening the ceasefire to expand to active disbanding and ending of the war.

The trial of three Real IRA members is taking place in London. Evidence has been given that the men were attempting to obtain arms from Iraq and other "rogue states" to support terrorist campaigns.

Former Yugoslav officials Nikola Sainovic and Momcilo Gruban have surrendered to the Hague war crimes tribunal, at which Ibrahim Rugova, president of Kosovo, recently gave evidence in a dramatic episode in Slobodan Milosevics trial.

5. Middle East

Peace between Israel and the Palestinians seems remote, but Saudi Arabia has again taken the lead to try to unite interested parties with the US to begin substantive discussions to stop the bloodshed. A peace conference is planned for the summer.

Meanwhile, Israeli incursions and occupation of Palestinian territories continue. Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat has been released from his compound following a deal in which those convicted of the murder of the Israeli tourist minister will remain under UK and British custody. The ongoing siege of Bethlehem seems set to end with a compromise that is close to completion.

UN investigators were blocked from their fact-finding mission to Jenin to uncover details of the recent fighting, and the mission was finally abandoned. Independent investigation by Human Rights Watch concludes that while there was no massacre in Jenin, there was evidence of war crimes that needed to be addressed.

In Algeria, Islamic militants from the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and GSPC have been responsible for a series or raids and murder that have killed at least 34.

Iranian police raided a major drug smuggling operation, capturing one and killing six. (Last week 4 tons of opium were seized.)

Iraq enjoyed the celebrations of Saddam Husseins 65th birthday last weekend while US President Bush reviewed plans for an attack on that country. UN Secretary General Annan persists with weapons inspection talks. The meetings that Mohammed Atta, the leading hijacker, was supposed to have held with Iraqi officials never took place, eliminating the link between the September 11 attacks and Iraq.

Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is negotiating compensation for the families of the Pan Am 103/Lockerbie bombing victims with American and British officials. While disclaiming responsibility, it is thought that he will provide significant financial incentives, to help have United Nations sanctions lifted.

6. South Asia

Military actions continue in the mountains of Afghanistan, while Turkey prepares to take over the peacekeeping force in Kabul. International troops from the US, UK and Canada are hunting for al Qaeda and Taliban members, but the immediate risk to peace in Afghanistan now rises from the traditional warlords. Without significant international investment, Afghanistan will revert to the violent chaos of armed factions.

British forces operating in Afghanistan have said they will treat those captured as Prisoners of War, a policy at odds with the position of the US. However, with insufficient facilities to hold prisoners themselves, they will be turning them over to Afghani or US authorities.

Across India, violence between Hindus and Muslims simmers amidst controversy surrounding the events in the state of Gujarat. Riots and targeted attacks in Gujarat killed at least 900 since February, mostly Muslims. Coal and Mines Minister Paswan has resigned over the Indian governments failure to curb violence. Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi has criticized the handling of the riots. Despite widespread criticism, a censure motion against the government was narrowly defeated.

Human Rights Watch and the European Union have both investigated the riots and found they were directly supported by the Hindu-led government of Gujarat.

Porattam activists, associated with Maoists, attacked the Asian Development Bank in the state of Kerala.

For the first time in over forty years India has purchased military equipment from the US. They are buying radar systems, a newer version of those that Pakistan has already purchased. India has again tested a cruise missile that was developed with Russia and first tested last year and has also held military exercises along the border with Pakistan. These moves have not reduced tension with Pakistan.

Also near the Pakistan border, landmine explosions have killed seven Indian soldiers. In Kashmir, the militant Hizbul Mujahideen group says it is ready to cease armed conflict. Three senior members of the group (Abdul Majid Dar, Asad Yazdani and Zafar Abdul Fateh) have been expelled for disciplinary breaches.

In Nepal, battles between the army and the Maoist militants continue. In the last week, security forces killed more than 400 militants.

Pakistans General Musharraf received a "yes" vote in his referendum to extend his term by another five years. The high positive vote has not silenced criticism of the exercise, which took place under changed voting regulations and an opposition boycott.

US and Pakistani troops are conducting joint searches for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the mountains.

In Karachi, Pakistans largest city, a series of bombings have left dozens injured and a 12-year-old boy dead.

The truce in Sri Lanka is under pressure. Tamil Tiger's chief negotiator Anton Balasinghams plane was nearly shot down when it diverted from its planned route. A boat explosion off the east coast is under investigation. Amnesty International has complained of many reports of hostage taking and extortion. And President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called for a greater role in the peace process, that heretofore has been led by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.

7. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

Italian media company Vivendi will reconvene shareholders for a new meeting and vote in June, following irregularities in the voting alleged to be the work of hackers.

US Department of Justice (DOJ) authorities have arrested about 130 people accused of identity theft.

DOJ is also campaigning for harsher sentences. Advocacy groups have added that credit providers, who rely heavily on social security numbers and make credit easy to obtain without confirmation of identity, should perform validation of identity much more extensively.

David Smith, developer of the Melissa computer virus, has been fined $5,000 and jailed for three years.

The Trusted Computing Platform Alliance meets this week to work towards developments of a more secure personal computer hardware platform.

8. Finance

Spanish police believe that their investigation into ETA financing has succeeded in disrupting the organization, whose business in extortion normally generates some $11 million annually. They have arrested eleven leaders of the Batsuna separatist party, accused of money laundering and financing of terrorism. The US, coordinating with the European Union, has also blocked ETA assets.

Mohamed Hussein, associated with the Al Barakaat halawa, has been convicted of operating without a state license. No terrorism charges have been made against him or his brother.

Enaam Arnaout, executive director of the international Muslim charity, the Benevolence International Foundation, has been arrested in the US on charges of perjury, saying he lied about his connections with al Qaeda, and also Chechen rebels. This follows a lawsuit the foundation had issued against the government for freezing its assets and charging it with terrorist funding.

9. Human Rights

US policy issues continue to raise issues of human rights. Immigration policies favored by the Department of Justice (DOJ) would ask police departments to track down illegal immigrants. A White House directive calls for detention of Haitian asylum seekers, a policy that doesnt apply to any other nationality. The DOJs practices of detaining people indefinitely in case they will be used in grand jury cases, holding immigration hearings in secret and not releasing the names of detainees have all been struck down in the courts.

In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees have been moved to a new facility and transfer of new prisoners from Afghanistan has started again. Unlike the US refusal to accord those captured Prisoner of War status, the UK, undertaking military activities in Afghanistan, has said that any people they capture will be given POW status.

US President Bush has announced it will formally renounce the treaty for the International Criminal Court and will "unsign" the treaty. This will not change the force of the treaty, which has already been ratified by more than the required number of nations, but will likely lead to additional conflict between the US and its international allies.

10. Law and Legal Issues

Perjury charges against Osama Awadallah, who had been detained as a material witness for a grand jury hearing, were thrown out by a New York federal judge who ruled that detention of material witnesses could only be done for a court proceeding not an investigation.

Mohamed Hussein, associated with the Al Barakaat halawa, has been convicted of operating without a state license. No terrorism charges have been made against him or his brother.

John Walker Lindhs lawyers are disputing the use of a secret witness, in a dispute over the governments issues of national security versus the defendants rights to have access to a witnesss testimony related to trial evidence. Note: Check out an essay by Edwin Dobb in the May issue of Harpers Review. (See Recently Published.)

Zacarian Moussaoui, accused of conspiracy in the September 11 attacks and now acting as his own lawyer, has accused his judge of bias and conflict of interest and asked for her dismissal. The requests were denied by the judge.

Fintann Paul OFarrell, Declan John Rafferty and Michael Christopher McDonald, members of the dissident republican group the Real IRA, have pleaded guilty to a number of terrorist-related offenses, including conspiracy to cause an explosion and weapons charges. Evidence has been given that the men were attempting to obtain arms from Iraq and other "rogue states" to support terrorist campaigns.

David Smith, developer of the Melissa computer virus, has been fined $5,000 and jailed for three years.

German Briceno Suarez, El Marrano ("The Pig" or "Fernando"), Jeronimo, Gustavo Bocota Aguablanca, Nelson Vargas Rueda and Dumar are alleged members of FARC now under indictment in the US for the killing of three Americans in 1999.The six men are at large. Colombian authorities have said they would be extradited if found in the country.

Jafar Umar Thalib, head of Laskar Jihad, an Islamic militant group, has been arrested in connection with anti-Christian attacks in Indonesia.

11. Narco-terrorism

Iranian police raided a major drug smuggling operation, capturing one and killing six. (Last week 4 tons of opium were seized.)

12. Transportation

The newly created US Transportation Security Administration has provided the first federal security screeners, in place now at the Baltimore Washington International airport. Salaries of $70,000 plus overtime for the checkpoint guards have been criticized in Congress, seeking more explanations of how the supplemental airport security budget ($4.4 billion) is being spent.

13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

Russia and the US have continued their discussions of arms reductions. Sticking points continue to be around verification and whether it is acceptable to store weapons (as the US wants) versus destroying them (as desired by Russia).

A US team is headed for the former Soviet biological testing site on an island in Uzbekistan to destroy remaining anthrax bacteria that was buried in pits.

14. Recently Published

Dobb, Edwin. "Should John Walker Lindh Go Free? On the rights of the detained." In Harpers Magazine, May 2002.

Esposito, John L,, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. Oxford University Press.

Gordon, Matthew S., Islam: Origins, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Persons, Sacred Places. Oxford University Press.

Griswold, Eliza. "The 14-Year-Old Hit Man: This boy says he has killed four people for profit. In Colombia assassination is now childrens work." New York Times Magazine, April 28, 2002.

Hutton, Will. The World Were In", Little Brown.

Kepel, Gilles. Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. Harvard University Press

Lapierre, Dominique and Javier Moro. Five Minutes After Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the Worlds Deadliest Industrial Disaster. Warner.

Mackey, Sandra. The Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein. Norton.

Wright, Patrick. The Progress of a Monstrous War Machine. Viking. (History of the tank.)

FEATURE ARTICLE:

Narco-Terrorism

This week, we round out our recent coverage of Colombia with a brief overview of Narco-Terrorism. This material is extracted from "Narco-Terrorism: A Unified Strategy to Fight a Growing Terrorist Menace" by Douglas J. Davids. This book, recently published by Transnational Publishers, is available electronically through your subscription to TerrorismCentral, or in print from Transnational. For additional information, please review the new Narco-Terrorism section we have added to the Selected Topics from the Library. Major Davids is in the Analysis Section of the National Guard Bureau -- Counter-drug Office of the US Army.

Chapter 1: Narco-Terrorism Defined and Explained
. . . .
...it is now possible to discuss how narco-terrorism operates by describing the production and smuggling of illegal drugs, and the symbiotic relationship between terrorist-insurgent organizations and drug trafficking, using Latin America as an example...[but]...we could just as well be describing opium and heroin smuggling operations in Southwest Asia-trafficked to Russia and Europe-which are heavily controlled by Islamic extremists such as the Taliban and the Kosovo Liberation Army (as well as Turkish, Russian, Albanian, and Nigerian smugglers), or similar operations in Southeast Asia,... within the "Golden Triangle" by groups such as the Wa'a State in Myanmar, and trafficked by Chinese crime syndicates throughout Eastern Asia and North America.....

Coca (for cocaine), marijuana, and opiates (for heroin) grow in various Latin American countries (such as Colombia or Peru), often under the protective umbrella of terrorist and/or insurgent organizations that protect, and sometimes control, the processing of the substances through cultivation, production, and initial transportation. Once converted into an illegal drug, the product is transported, for sale and consumption, primarily to the United States and Europe.

Trafficking to the U.S. in the 1970s and early 1980s went primarily through the Caribbean Sea to Florida, with Miami as the hub.... [A]s U.S. interdiction efforts concentrated on the Caribbean smuggling routes, traffickers began to move operations to Mexico.... Then came the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It has often been said that what NAFTA did for trade, it also did for drug trafficking.... Prior to NAFTA, smugglers operated over the desert, in the air, or through complex tunnel systems. Now... they can slip past customs agents in the immense amount of legal traffic that passes through the border on a daily basis.
....
Mexico is still the most important point of entry for drugs reaching the United States. In recent years, however, smugglers have turned increasingly back to the Caribbean.... In 1999, studies indicated that 57 percent of illegal narcotics went through Mexico, 33 percent through the Caribbean islands, and 12 percent through Central America. [Information provided by the U.S. Department of Defense Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict section, under the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support.] However, these numbers fluctuate year by year.
....
The flexibility of the traffickers operating throughout various regions reveals why interdiction methods have not been able to stop the drug flow. The traffickers, in mimicking General Douglas MacArthur's strategic maxim in the South Pacific, simply "go where the enemy ain't."... If interdiction efforts are concentrated in the Caribbean, move to Mexico. If they are concentrated in Mexico, move to the Caribbean. If the U.S. attempts to concentrate in both areas with its current force and budget, it will be weak in both places. If the U.S. doubles the amount of manpower, logistics, and the billions of dollars already dedicated to the interdiction effort and concentrates in both regions, the traffickers can smuggle through the Gulf States, the Pacific, or any part of the expansive U.S.-Canadian border....

Similarly, eradication efforts .... are revealing similar problems... For example, eradication efforts in Colombia's Guaviare area did reduce coca growing for that region. However, cultivation of coca was moved to guerrilla-controlled areas of Putumayo and Caqueta, ... This is why interdiction and eradication, though necessary, should not be the central focuses of a counter-narcotic strategy....

Once the drugs are in the United States they are transported to Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York, and other major cities. From the major cities the drugs are further distributed to smaller buyers (distributors), and then transported to other cities and sold to dealers, and finally to users.

The money from the illegal drug user travels in the reverse direction. Much of this money is transported in bulk cash back out of the United States to Mexico, the Caribbean, or directly to Colombia. It is then laundered through phony businesses, or corrupt financial institutions, and required proceeds are given to major drug traffickers in both the drug-production and drug-transit countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands. Part of the money received by the drug lords in the major producing countries, such as Colombia, pays terrorist and insurgent organizations to continue growing and producing illegal drugs, or to provide security and support for narco-trafficking operations. The terrorists and insurgents use the money to buy military supplies to conduct their terrorist and warfare activities. At other times, the drug lords use their transportation assets to provide arms and weapons to the terrorists and insurgents, instead of paying them cash.

Ironically, some insurgent organizations initially frowned upon drug trafficking for any purposes. The religious views of the Afghanistan's Taliban, for instance, certainly should not have allowed their use of the heroin trade to finance their war.... Meanwhile, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia...[FARC]...initially frowned upon the narco-trafficking, and opposed drug use.
...

To say that terminating terrorists' financing from narco-trafficking would end terrorist activities is, of course, incorrect. These organizations often have secondary and tertiary means of income. The FARC, for example, makes hundreds of millions of dollars from abductions of wealthy Colombian citizens and foreigners ... Muslim extremists often receive funds from terrorist supporting states such as Iraq, along with more mundane crimes such as credit card theft. However, the financial support received from narco-trafficking is substantial and usually yields great profit. In 1996 the Colombian Military Forces estimated that, of the $1.233 billion appropriated by the guerrillas, $746.6 million of it came from narco-trafficking, $262.2 million from extortion, and $224.4 million from kidnapping. [Unclassified information provided by the General Command the Military Forces of Colombia to the U.S. Joint Staff in 1998.] Additionally, narco-trafficking provides a small, still weakly organized insurgency with quick income without attracting the public attention that a kidnapping would.

Narco-terrorism is a real and definable phenomenon. It is a process of illegally financing activities that, in turn, are also illegal....