Retrovision. If we only new then what we know now:
WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING PART OF LARGER TERROR CAMPAIGN
By Clark Staten
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-EMERGENCYNET NEWS SVC.-03/09/93-1200CST
Chicago, IL (ENN) - An analysis of recent world-wide patterns of terrorist activity would indicate that the World Trade Center bombing was part of a much larger "terror campaign", being carried out by several groups of Islamic Fundamentalists, from several countries. Increasing evidence demonstrates that the terrorism threats of the past several months are being carried out by a diverse group of "individual cells" that are being "loosely" controlled from the Middle-East.
As is frequently the problem with "state supported terrorism", this is a battle of surrogates...tiny groups of fanatical Muslim supporters who carry out individual acts of violence in hopes of establishing a world-wide practice of Islamic law and beliefs. This widely spread out association of "compartmentalized cells" make investigation and retaliation against an specific government a most difficult task. Worse, it makes it practically impossible for any government to prove that any other government is the sponsor or financial backer of violent acts carried out as the policy of the country of origin.
Terrorism is a "beast of many faces", depending on the country and individual objectives of the fragmented "cells" of supporters, who have chosen violence as a method of political and geographic change. In the case of the Islamic Fundamentalists, the primary focus would appear to be the establishment of religious governing mechanisms to replace the current secular governments. Particularly in Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, and Israel, the goals of Islam would appear to include a violent overthrow of the currently constituted political systems, to be replaced by the Islamic system of "religious laws and justice".
An analysis of terrorist events during the past three months has shown a dramatically increased number of incidents directed against America and her European allies. More frightening is the fact that several of these actions have actually been targeted at the mainland of the United States. Notable is the January 25, 1993 killings that took place outside of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, VA. In that attack, a Pakistani national named Mir Aimal Kansi allegedly used an AK-47 assault rifle to kill two CIA employees and wounded three others. Increasing intelligence information says that Kansi has ties to a fundamentalist group in his homeland, and that he is being "shielded" by them in Afghanistan, after fleeing there shortly after the shooting.
On Feb. 26, 1993, multiple terrorist attacks took place at the same time. In Cairo, Egypt, Adel Abu Bakr was arrested for a devastating attack in the Wadi El Nil coffee shop in downtown Cairo. Two people were killed, and another eighteen people, most European and American tourists, were wounded. Reportedly, the attack was carried out with a TNT device that was wrapped with tape and imbedded with nails. Local Cairo reports say that the cafe bombing was only one of several bombings of tourist sites, and buses containing foreign nationals, that have taken place in recent weeks. Egyptian investigators have reportedly determined that the perpetrators in the bombing were members of the Jihad Underground movement in Egypt.
On the same day, the World Trade Center (WTC) bombing took place in New York. As many as 1,050 people have been reported as injured as the result of the incident, with five dead and two people still presumed missing. All technical appearances would suggest that the explosive device (or devices) were intended to damage vital building systems or even to cause a major collapse of the structure. The WTC bombing has been called by many the largest and most damaging attack ever on American soil. Much has been written about the arrest of Ahmad Salameh in the attack, a Jordanian national of Palestinian origin, and his possible ties to an Islamic Mullah Sheikh Abdul-Rahman. Although, probably a "small fish" in the bombing attack, Salameh's involvement would lead informed observer to be suspicious of Islamic participation.
Also, on February 28, 1993 (the same weekend as the WTC bombing) a bomb exploded at the Zamboanga Airport on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The blast, which was "delay-detonated" at a checkout counter of the airport, injured twenty-two (22) people. The Philippines News Agency PNA reported that the blast was so powerful that it destroyed a total of six (6) baggage check counters and completely destroyed the offices of the "Swift" private airlines. Although the local police chief said that he had no specific leads to the identity of the bombers, but said that he believed that the bombing had been the work of a "Moslem separatist group" that has been committing bombings and machine-gun attacks against local police and security forces.
At least three Algerian incidents are noteworthy in an examination of the larger problem of terrorism. In the country of Algeria, official reports indicate that since February of 1992, as many as six-hundred (600) people have been killed in violence perpetrated by Islamic Fundamentalists. In a country where Moslems have attempted to overthrow the recognized government.
On February 26, 1993,(the same day as the WTC bombing), Security Services in Algiers report that a massive "home-made bomb" was exploded in the town of Chlef. Reportedly, this blast did not cause any injuries or deaths, but it did destroy a major phone switching center and wrecked thousands of phone lines. Significant is the fact that it took place at almost the same time as the WTC bombing in New York.
On February 13, 1993, (two weeks before the WTC bombing) an assassination attempt was made on the life of Algerian Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar. Nezzar has been instrumental in the fight against the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front or FIS party in Algeria. The official Algerian news service (APS) said that the assassination attempt was carried out by means of a car bombing that was "remote-detonated" as the minister's car drove past it.
The third Algerian incident involved the killing of four (4) policemen that occurred on the same day and at about the same time as the bombing assassination attempt on Algerian Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar (Feb. 13, 1993). According to police sources, gunman opened fire with automatic weapons on a car containing District Police Chief Khaldi Said, Police Inspector Mohamed Khelifi, and two other detectives. All four men were killed in the exchange of gunfire. According to the Rueters News service, the killings took place in a suburb of Algiers called El Harrach, which is known to be a Moslem Fundamentalist stronghold. More than two-hundred and fifty police (250) and paramilitary security forces have been killed in clashes with Islamic Fundamentalists during the past year.
Several counter-terrorist analysts also point to a continuing escalation of pro-Islamic rhetoric emulating from the MiddleEast and calling for "hostile action" against America and her allies. Some hypothesize that the calls for violence are the result of America's support for Israel and against recognized Islamic "liberation organizations". During the past two months, radio reports, newspaper articles, and even faxes emanating from Aman, Jordan, Algiers, Algeria, Paris, France, and Pakistan have called for the "violent overthrow" of any country that supports the "Zionists" or opposes the Hamas, Hezbollah, FIS, Al-Jihad, PLO, or other Islamic or Palestinian organization. The level of this hyperbole has been steadily increasing since the expulsion of four-hundred suspected Fundamentalist terrorists from Israel earlier this year.
Numerous reports of additional incidents have been reported since the WTC bombing, and even though U.S. FBI Director William Sessions has been publicly quoted as saying that the New York incident is not a precursor to a "coming wave of terrorism", several competent counter-terrorist analysts say that the danger of future attacks is heightened. Although most experts agree that it is difficult for Islamic or other terrorist organizations to operate in the United States, they also point to the World Trade Center bombing as an example of what could occur in any major city in this country.
-30- (c) EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1993
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