Tehran hosts terrorist club
160 delegates from 23 countries in show of strength
Alexander Rose
National Post
WASHINGTON - Delegations from 23 countries attended a terrorist planning meeting in Tehran on June 1, according to intelligence reports. The meeting was attended by 160 representatives of groups listed in the U.S. State Department's report on terrorism, including Ahmad Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command; Sheik Na'im Qasim, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general; and Dr. Ramadan Shallah, the leader of Islamic Jihad. The revolutionary and reformist wings of the Iranian leadership brought the groups together to demonstrate that Tehran is still capable of exporting revolution and terrorism. The Iranian official who organized the conference under the auspices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi-Pur, known as "Hezbollah's godfather." Speeches at the conference were the usual gumbo of anti-Semitic rants, Death to America chants and Islamist slants. That was only the "public" face of the conference, however. A Western intelligence service's report focuses on "the real summit" that took place the night before. The report refers to a series of secret meetings overseen by the Revolutionary Guard (which is in charge of Iran's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and forces). More than 10 people attended the meeting, including Mr. Jibril, Dr. Shallah, Imad al-Alami, Hezbollah representatives and the group's spiritual leader, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. Two senior Revolutionary Guard officers also attended, including Ali Reza Tamzar, who is in charge of the new Revolutionary Guard camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, where he would have connections with the Syrians and Hezbollah. Crucially, another guest was Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's overseas operations commander, who is considered one of the world's top terrorists (he has also worked for Iran and Syria). Hamas and al-Qaeda were also present. Western intelligence services believe the meeting was called to discuss how to circumvent counterterrorist operations aimed at preventing suicide bombings. It was decided to intensify support and co-operation for suicide attacks and to continue to secure expertise and funds to carry them out. The Iranian representatives emphasized Tehran's commitment to the strategy and tactics of suicide bombing and claimed the world is conspiring against Muslims by declaring "martyrdom" operations a taboo. In the end, the attendees settled upon a policy of uniting the various terrorist groups into a front broadly supportive of jihad and backed by the Islamic Republic. It appears a "black" budget of US$50-million has been allocated to this aim. In future, we may expect disturbances on the Israeli-Lebanese border, closer Hamas-Islamic Jihad-Hezbollah co-operation and further attempts by Iran to ship arms to these groups.
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Perhaps by coincidence, perhaps not, Efraim Halevy, the head of the Mossad, addressed a closed meeting of the NATO Alliance Council in Brussels on the subject of terrorism and Sept. 11. Suicide bombing is "no longer a marginal phenomenon which characterizes a small and extremist sector of the society," he said. "It is a phenomenon that is developing at a quick pace into a half-legitimate form of warfare.... Terror acts, [once] tactical and short range, are quickly becoming strategic threats with international significance.... My appeal to you here today is that the attempts to ... distinguish between colours and targets of Islamic terror [around the world] are quickly losing their relevancy. Why? First of all because ... they are no longer limited to specific areas in the world. Hamburg, Milan, Brussels, London, Miami, Kuala Lumpur -- this is only a random list of large cities in which terrorists are living and in which they are slowly making their plans and preparing their operations. Secondly, the operation of suicides in New York, Washington or Jerusalem is the manifestation of a modus operandi that is motivated not only by professional efficacy, but by its being perfectly fitted ideologically and religiously. Therefore, the method has attained transcendental, supernatural meaning."
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For his trip last week to Durban, South Africa, to help inaugurate the new African Union, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi packed the following: 60 armoured vehicles, one Russian transport plane, one container ship of slaughtered goats, two Boeing 707 jets, two 48-seat buses, one electronic jamming device, 400 security officers (including his trademark female bodyguards), 27 submachine guns and an assortment of rocket-propelled grenades and RPG launchers. Also, for emergency expenses, US$6-million in cash.
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