Asia Security
Monitor
No. 20, April 2, 2003 Humanitarian crisis in Philippines war zone;
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March 6: Indonesia's parliament has passed anti-terrorism legislation authorizing the death penalty and detention without trial for terrorist acts, reports the BBC. The new bill expands police authority, permitting suspects to be questioned for up to six months. The bill also permits intelligence reports to be used as evidence in court. In addition, mail intercepts and wire taps will be legalized. March 12: Manzoor Dar, a top terrorist of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), was killed in a clash with Indian police forces in Uttar Pradesh while he was traveling from Delhi, reports the Press Trust of India. Dar is believed to be JeM's "area commander" of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities discovered Dar's whereabouts following the arrest and interrogation of two of his associates who also revealed that Dar had been in charge of planning and executing attacks on various targets in Delhi. [Editor's Note: India's Home Minister, L.K. Advani, identified JeM as one of the groups responsible for the March 13 train bombing in Mumbai that killed 12 and injured more than 70.] March 16: The US and Pakistan are coordinating military operations against Islamic guerrillas on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border, reports the Washington Post. Some US military officials, however, have expressed frustration with Pakistan's efforts to apprehend Islamic guerrillas on their side of the border. US Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeill stated it was "curious" that so few former Taliban leaders have been arrested in Pakistan. The New York Times reports that intelligence and law enforcement officials from the United States, Europe and Africa have seen evidence that militants are recruiting new terrorist operatives by tapping into rising anger over the US campaign for war in Iraq. The surge in al Qaeda recruitment efforts has been most visible in Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Not only are new recruits younger than ever before, investigators have also seen an increase in the number of women, often ethnic European converts, who are playing an important role within European networks. In addition, officials and experts believe that video images of an American-led invasion of Iraq may ultimately hand Osama bin Laden his most useful recruitment tool. The most recent audiotape message attributed to bin Laden criticized secular tyrants like Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath party, while exhorting Muslims to fight "in the name of God only, not in the name of national ideologies, nor to seek victory for the ignorant governments that rule all Arab states, including Iraq." Officials also believe terrorist groups have established new bases of operation, especially in the Caucasus, and fear that Chechnya could become the new Afghanistan. In response to concerns that European cell members and new recruits are traveling to the Caucasus, France has opened up an inquiry focusing on Chechnya and the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia. |
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Copyright
© 2003, American Foreign Policy Council.
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