Author:
Publication: Asia Times
Date: May 5, 2001
Asia is now the major focus of global
terrorism and it has the highest number of related victims, says a new
United States report, the "Global Patterns of Terrorism 2000" compiled
by the US State Department.
The annual report which was released
this week says the focus of global terrorism continues to shift from the
Middle East to Asia. The report, which says there has been a 75 percent
increase in terrorism related deaths, still designates North Korea as a
"state sponsor of terrorism" for providing a safe haven to subversive groups.
Asia's terrorist hotspots include North Korea, Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistan was targeted by the US which was "increasingly concerned" about
reports that it continued to support Kashmiri groups in the conflict, a
claim the government denies.
The Asian country with the greatest
number of terrorism-related deaths was India, where the Kashmir conflict
in the northern province of Jammu and Kashmir has led to large-scale massacres
over a prolonged period and continues to be a regional flashpoint.
Saudi-born Islamist Osama bin Laden
has spent another year in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban
rulers and is still targeted by the US State Department. The report says:
"Although no definitive link (with the USS Cole attack, where 17 US sailors
were killed) has been made to Bin Laden's organization, Yemeni authorities
have determined that some suspects in custody and at large are veterans
of Afghan training camps."
Additions to the list of terrorist
organizations includes two Pakistani-based Islamist groups - Jaish-e-Mohammed
(the Army of Mohammed) and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (the Army of the Righteous).
The report drops the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia from the list.
In his comments on the report, US
Secretary of State Colin Powell said the loss of American sailors in the
bombing of the USS Cole, the hostage-takings in Ecuador and the Philippines,
and the many threats that surrounded the new millennium drew media attention
and official concern about terrorism in the year 2000.
"Such attention and concern was
fitting. The year 2000 was certainly not a year without the scourge of
terrorism upon the face of the earth. But this should not obscure the basic
message of today's report. International cooperation against terrorism
is increasing and it is paying off," Powell said.
The year 2000, he said, saw a number
of events that marked successful progress and cooperation between agencies
and nations. For example, last December the United Nations Security Council
levied additional sanctions in United Nations Security Council Resolution
1333 against the Taliban for allowing terrorist camps to operate on Afghanistan
territory and for harboring Usama bin Laden.
Second, the trial began that led
to an eventual conviction in the 1988 bombing of Pam Am 103. Next, the
accused perpetrators and co-conspirators in the East Africa embassy bombings
were also brought to trial in New York City.
Powell said the US had increased
its cooperation with a number of countries and regions. "We maintain strong
working relationships with many of our allies in the Middle East, including
Jordan, Egypt and Israel, and we look to expanding partnerships in the
Arabian Peninsula. We are reaching out to the Central Asian states. We
continue to work closely with India. And we work through multilateral organizations
such as the UN, the G-8, and a number of others."
