28 April 2006
Report Cites U.S., EU, Eurasian Counterterrorism Cooperation
Terrorist threat increasingly seen as internal, State Department says
By Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – Europe and the United States continue to work in close partnership to counter the terrorist threat, a threat that increasingly is seen as internal, according to the State Department's annual terrorism report.
European Union (EU) member states remained “strong and reliable partners” and Russia continued to intensify its bilateral counterterrorism cooperation with the United States and to play a leadership role in multilateral fora, according to the Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 released April 28 in Washington.
As for the Caucasus and Central Asia, the report says progress was generally the rule with the exception of Uzbekistan.
A key concern, the report says, is the terrorist activity and the presence of terrorist support networks in Europe. “Efforts to combat the threat in Europe were sometimes hampered by legal protections that made it difficult to take firm judicial action against suspected terrorists, asylum laws that afforded loopholes, inadequate legislation, or standards of evidence that limited the use of classified information in holding terrorist suspects.”
The report also cites legal difficulties with the new EU arrest warrant in some countries, the ability of terrorists to travel easily between certain EU countries and EU reluctance to block the assets of charities associated with Hamas (also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement) and Hizballah, both of which the United States designates as terrorist groups.
Several new bilateral agreements bolstered U.S.-Russian counterterrorism cooperation in 2005, including an information-sharing agreement on man portable air defense systems (MANPADS, or shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles). (See related article.)
Other positive developments included a counternarcotics memorandum of understanding and an agreement between the FBI and the Russian Federal Security Service that has created a “highly productive joint counterterrorism operational capability,” the report says.
The report also cites Russia’s role in proposing and securing the enactment of the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and Russia’s regional leadership in combating money laundering.
Regarding the war in Chechnya, the report cites the addition of terrorist Shamil Basayev to the Chechen separatist leadership structure as bolstering Russia’s contention that the Chechen insurgency is terrorist in nature.
CENTRAL ASIA
In Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is deemed “a dependable and outspoken ally,” while Kazakhstan has improved its counterterrorist laws and stepped up cooperation, according to the report. Tajikistan has “offered its limited resources to assist the United States unconditionally.”
Even though there is a lack of formal cooperation on counterterrorism between Turkmenistan and the United States, the report states the Central Asian country has granted blanket overflight rights for U.S. aircraft supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan’s support for the global War on Terror, however, has “eroded significantly due to the downturn in U.S.-Uzbek relations,” according to the report.
One of the first nations to support U.S. efforts in the global War on Terror, hosting U.S. military forces in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan beginning in 2001, Uzbekistan terminated its agreement with the United States allowing use of the Karshi-Khanabad base in July 2005. (See related article.)
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said after visiting Uzbekistan in September 2005 that, while the United States and Uzbekistan share common security concerns, the two countries "have had a very difficult period in relations, complicated by grave concerns regarding the human rights situation and events in [the Uzbek city of] Andijan [in May 2005]." (See related story.)
The government of Uzbekistan, the report sums up, “increased security forces to prevent terrorist attacks but failed to address the conditions terrorists exploit to gain popular support and recruits for their cause.”
In the Caucasus, Armenia “continues to strengthen its capacity” to counter terrorist threats and Azerbaijan has moved aggressively against domestic terrorism while also actively supporting the international efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the report says.
Georgia presents a more mixed picture. While Georgian security forces continue to carry out operations to rid the Pankisi Gorge of terrorists, Georgia’s borders remains porous because of corruption at border checkpoints, according to the report.
This year’s congressionally mandated report uses a broader definition of terrorism than previous reports, and its statistics showing a sharply higher number of incidents are therefore incommensurable with those of prior years. Only in future years will it be possible to draw conclusions about trends with any certainty. (See related article.)
Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 is available on the State Department Web site, as is the regional overview (PDF, 43 pages) for Europe and Eurasia.
The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) prepared the terrorist incident statistics included in the report. The 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act created the NCTC and designated it the primary authoritative organization for global terrorism analysis, including regular reporting requirements.
For additional information, see Response to Terrorism.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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