A conference concerning possible terrorist threats at the 2000 Olympic Games was convened in early December in Australia. Counter-terrorist experts from around the world came to discuss security preparations for the Summer Games that will be held in Sydney.
One of the experts at the conference was Bruce Hoffman, who is the head of the center for the study of terrorism and political violence at St.Andrews University in Scotland. Mr. Hoffman was also a security consultant for the World Cup soccer games that were held in the United States in 1994. Hoffman said that Australia should not think of itself immune to possible terrorist attack because of its tough immigration standards or its geographical isolation.
Hoffman warned, "They do make Australia much more difficult to enter for potential adversaries and they do provide Australia with more natural advantages that other Olympic venues might not have enjoyed. But I think what's absolutely critical is that Australia shouldn't wrap itself in a fatally false blanket of security about its geographical isolation and its immigration procedures. Certainly those are advantages, but I think there's no way any country anywhere in the world can hermetically seal itself off from a terrorist threat."
Because the entire country of Australia is surrounded by water and much of the movement of athletes will be made on water it made for an interesting discussion on potential terrorist targets. Hoffman said, "Historically terrorists shy away from engaging in maritime terrorism. But I don't think we should assume there's not a threat in Sydney because so much of Sydney's venue and so much of the movement of athletes will be facilitated by maritime transport. That in itself could provide an attraction for terrorists and change their previous patterns of operations. I think it will present new challenges for security officials, on the other hand it may present new opportunities for terrorists, as well.
It was revealed at the conference that there were internal and external security threats at the past two sites for the Summer Olympic Games that were held in Seoul, South Korea, and Barcelona, Spain. There has been no major terrorist incidents at the Olympics since eleven members of the Isreali Olympic team were killed at the 1972 Munich Games by Palestinian terrorists.
It is Mr. Hoffman's belief that the greatest threat does not come from typical terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad or Abu Nidal, but from separatists groups such as the ETA in Spain or the Kashmirs in India. Hoffman said that these type of groups may see that a terrorist strike at a major international gathering could further their cause overseas. Hoffman said, "I don't think that it's coincidental that a year following the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre that the PLO was granted observer status in the United Nations and in 1974 Yasser Arafat was invited to address the General Assembly." "That itself shows that although people were certainly appalled by what occurred in 1972, it was nonetheless a tremendous publicity vehicle. So, I think that by no means any one could think that no other group would similarly seek to use the Olympics as a means to catapult their own cause onto the world's agenda."
Also attending the conference was the director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), David Sadlieir. He told the participants that more terrorism was a credible prospect for the Asia-Pacific region leading up to the Sydney Games in 2000.
Mr. Sadilier said that Australia has only experienced "mild" forms of terrorist acts in the past. Since 1969, the ASIO has monitored about 100 incidents in the country. Only five could be classified as major terrorist attacks. One of those incidents was the 1978 bombing of the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.
Sadilier and the ASIO have been busy trying to put together more cooperation between security agencies in the Asia-Pacific region. He said that current cooperation and communications between the region's agencies was fragmented, at best. Sadilier said, "At best, the region can expect no less terrorism and it seems to me there is a credible prospect for more."
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All right reserved.