Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2523-1001821634-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sat, 29 Sep 2001 20:49:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 2984 invoked by uid 510); 30 Sep 2001 03:47:25 -0000 Received: from n27.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.77) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 30 Sep 2001 03:47:25 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2523-1001821634-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.56] by fh.egroups.com with NNFMP; 30 Sep 2001 03:47:14 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_4_1); 30 Sep 2001 03:47:13 -0000 Received: (qmail 64410 invoked from network); 30 Sep 2001 03:47:13 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by l10.egroups.com with QMQP; 30 Sep 2001 03:47:13 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta3 with SMTP; 30 Sep 2001 03:47:13 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id UAA16026 for iwar@onelist.com; Sat, 29 Sep 2001 20:47:10 -0700 Message-Id: <200109300347.UAA16026@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 20:47:09 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Syria.Has.4.Groups.on.Terror.List] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Syria Has 4 Groups on Terror List By DONNA ABU-NASR Associated Press Writer DAMASCUS, Syria - Whenever a plane was hijacked in the 1960s and '70s, suspicion would quickly fall on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The Marxist organization adopted the tactic to highlight the Palestinian people's struggle against Israel. It shot to world notoriety on Sept. 6, 1970, when it seized three jetliners to Jordan in a single day, freed the passengers, and blew up the Swissair, BOAC and TWA planes. ''In all of our operations, the No. 1 instruction we had was to avoid civilian casualties,'' Abu Ahmad Fuad, a member of the PFLP politburo said in denouncing the casualties in the Sept. 11 attacks. ''There was more innocence in our days.'' Little is heard from the Front these days. It works out of an apartment in a middle-class neighborhood of Damascus. Its officials lounge about like underemployed bureaucrats. It churns out statements, but the Syrian media, entirely state-controlled, usually ignore them. It is one of four Palestinian groups - classified as terrorist organizations by Washington - that have found a haven here. Their presence, along with Damascus' support for the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, are key reasons why the United States has Syria on its blacklist of states that sponsor terrorism. Syria has said it would join an international anti-terrorism effort. But it will most probably resist any pressure to close down the PFLP and the others because it believes their struggle is legitimate. It's considered significant that none of the organizations have been identified as likely accomplices in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, or have had their assets targeted. None of the Palestinian groups has been implicated in any international terrorist attacks in recent years. Hezbollah these days mainly goes for Israeli military targets, but allegedly was involved in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina in which 86 people died. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have offices here, but the suicide bombings that are their hallmark are confined to Israel. Moussa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas leader, said closing the group's Damascus office would not shut down operations, ''and even if all those Palestinian groups are disbanded, other more secretive and violent groups could replace them.'' The closest Syria has come to being implicated in international terrorism was in the trial following the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988. A raid on a hide-out in Germany of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command turned up explosive devices that were nearly identical to the Pan Am bomb. However, prosecutors said they weren't similar enough, and a Libyan was convicted. Secretary of State Colin Powell told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that ''we are exploring opportunities to cooperate'' with Syria in fighting terrorism. Syria opened its door to radical Palestinian groups after Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon forced the Palestine Liberation Organization out of Beirut. In addition, refugee camps in Syria house more than 400,000 Palestinians rendered homeless since the 1948 creation of Israel. Syria is one of Israel's most implacable foes, but it has not allowed fighters on its territory to launch attacks on Israel for more than a quarter-century. Instead, Syria has served more as a political base for the Palestinians. In their heyday, the PFLP and the breakaway PFLP-GC made headlines with attacks that, besides publicity, were aimed at releasing comrades in Israeli jails. Despite orders to spare civilians, PFLP operations have caused casualties. On May 20, 1978, three PFLP guerrillas opened fire on passengers of the Israeli El Al airline at Paris' Orly Airport, killing a French police officer and French civilian. In another assault, two PFLP guerrillas attacked an El Al jet at Athens airport with guns and hand grenades in December 1968, killing one passenger. In separate operations, the PFLP-GC was responsible for an April 1974 attack on the northern Israeli town of Qiryat Shmona in which three gunmen killed 20 people before they were slain. The group was also blamed for a bomb placed on a Swissair jet flying from Zurich to Tel Aviv Feb. 21, 1970. Forty-seven people were killed when the plane crashed into a Swiss forest after the bomb exploded in the baggage compartment 15 minutes following takeoff. ''Those groups do not represent any threat,'' said Imad Fawzi Shueibi, a political analyst. ''And let's assume they were at one point terrorists - doesn't the statute of limitations apply here?'' ''Our main activity here is political,'' said Fuad, dressed in a striped shirt and pants instead of the military fatigues he wore as a fighter. He sat under a picture of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock. Hanging on the opposite wall was a carpet woven with Lenin's face. Looking at the picture of Lenin, Fuad said: ''He was such a great man. I long for the old days of the Soviets because they alone could control the raging American bull. They took care of the oppressed.'' ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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