Excerpt from ENN DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Services Saturday, May 3, 1997 Vol. 3, No. 123
STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM ...
By Steve Macko, ERRI
Analyst
Once a country gets on the U.S. State Department's list of nations that sponsor state terrorism -- it's very hard to get off. Even when Washington acknowledges that it cannot trace any direct links of terror attacks to a country -- that country will probably stay on the list.
Ever since the annual list came into being in 1979, Iraq is the only country that has ever been formally removed, in 1982. Iraq was placed back on the list in September of 1990, after it had invaded Kuwait.
South Yemen was removed from the terrorism list in 1990. That's only because the country ceased to exist after it merged with North Yemen.
For the past three years, the list has remained unchanged with the same seven countries being named in sponsoring international terrorism. Those countries are: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
The State Department does acknowledge that most of the countries on the list were not directly involved in international terrorism in 1996. Terrorism is defined by the DoS as: "Pre-meditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."
CUBA: According to the State Department report "Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996," this Latin American island nation "no longer actively supports armed struggle in Latin America and other parts of the world." However, the report said: "Although there is no current evidence that Cuban officials were directly involved in sponsoring specific acts of terrorism last year, Cuba is still a safe haven for several international terrorists, maintains close relations with other state sponsors of terrorism, and remains in contact with numerous leftist insurgent groups in Latin America."
IRAN: The State Department said that Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism and is "involved in the planning and execution of terrorist acts by its agents and others ..."
IRAQ: The 1996 report said that Saddam Hussein's regime "has not managed to recover its pre-Gulf War international terrorist capabilities," but it was "slowly rebuilding its intelligence network" and continues to provide a safe haven to Palestinian extremist groups that oppose the Middle East peace process with Israel.
LIBYA: International terrorism sponsored by Libya has been sharply reduced by United Nations sanctions following the November 1991 indictments of two Libyan nationals, said to be Libyan intelligence officers, for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
NORTH KOREA: According to the report, North Korea "cannot be conclusively linked to any international terrorist attacks since 1987." But the State Department said that North Korea is harboring wanted members of the Japanese Red Army, which is now considered to be pretty much a defunct terrorist group.
SUDAN: The State Department said that in 1996 Sudan "took some positive steps to distance itself from its past support for terrorism." However, the Islamic regime in that troubled country continues to serve as a "sanctuary and training center for several internation terrorist groups" including the radical HAMAS and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
SYRIA: This Middle Eastern country complains about being on the State Department list of countries that sponsor international terrorism. It has not been linked to any specific terrorist acts since 1987, but it still continues to provide safe haven for a number of terrorists. The report said: The United States continues to urge Syria to banish terrorist groups that maintain a presence in Syrian-controlled territory in Lebanon. Until Syria does so, it will remain on the list of state sponsors."
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
The ENN DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Security/Terrorism/Intelligence/Military and National Security issues.
Emergency Response and Research
Institute
6348 N Milwaukee Ave, Suite 312, Chicago, Illinois 60646 USA
773-631-ERRI Voice/Voice Mail
773-631-4703 Fax
773-631-3467 Computer/Modem - EMERGENCY BBS
Internet e-mail: enn@emergency.com
WWW page: http://www.emergency.com
Telnet: emergency.com