28 April 2006
Most Mideast, North African Countries Cooperate Against Terrorism
Annual counterterrorism report says terrorism a prime concern in region
By Phillip Kurata
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Almost all of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa continued cooperating with the United States in 2005 in the global War on Terror, according to the annual State Department report on counterterrorism released April 28.
Major terrorist attacks rocked Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Morocco in 2005, and widespread terrorism and violence plagued Iraq, where foreign and domestic fighters targeted foreign aid workers, contractors, and other noncombatants, the Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 said.
Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa provided some form of assistance to coalition efforts to bring stability and peace to Iraq and Afghanistan, the report said.
IRAQ
The report identified three sources of terrorist attacks in Iraq. The largest group is mainly Sunni Arabs, many of whom are increasingly aware that the political process, not violence, provides the means to achieve their political goals. The second largest group is Saddamists and former regime loyalists who initially fought to re-establish a Ba’athist dictatorship. The smallest but most lethal group is made up of terrorists affiliated with or inspired by al-Qaida.
Most of the members of al-Qaida in Iraq are Iraqis, but recruits mainly from other countries in the Middle East and North Africa have joined the group. Foreign fighters are believed to account for 4 percent to 10 percent of the estimated 20,000 or more insurgents in Iraq, according to the report.
The report praised the comprehensive efforts by the government of Saudi Arabia to combat terrorism. By the end of 2005, Saudi security forces killed or captured all of the 26 terrorists wanted in connection with attacks carried out in Saudi Arabia in December 2003 as well as all 19 members on an al-Qaida list issued in May 2003, in addition to numerous other militants and terrorist facilitators, the report said.
SAUDI ARABIA
Parallel to the security operations, the Saudi government launched nationwide education and awareness campaigns that "sought to de-legitimize Islamic justifications for militant activities," the report said.
The education campaign included public service announcements, billboards, television programs, and activities in schools and mosques. Part of the campaign involved efforts to put a human face on the victims of terrorism. In September 2005, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia called on the government to investigate religious scholars who issued unofficial fatwas, or Islamic decrees, that inspired violent acts.
The report noted that Saudi authorities have adopted financial monitoring tools to track terrorists and their supporters and hosted two major conferences addressing terrorism in 2005. In December 2005, Saudi King Abdullah hosted an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference with participation from more than 50 countries. All the organization members acknowledged the need to oppose violent misinterpretations of Islam and criminalize every terrorist practice, including financing and instigation of terrorism, the report said.
OTHER NATIONS
The report said that Kuwait has strengthened domestic anti-terrorist efforts and enhanced protection of coalition forces transiting Kuwait, but has been reluctant to confront extremist elements within the local population out of consideration for maintaining social tranquility.
The counterterrorism report had high praise for reforms adopted by Morocco where King Mohammed VI launched the National Initiative for Human Development.
"This $1.2 billion initiative targets Morocco's poorest rural areas and worst urban slums with the goal of eliminating the economic conditions that foster exclusion and despair," the report said. Morocco also continued implementing reforms to the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs designed to promote religious moderation and tolerance, the report said.
The United Arab Emirates, one of the leading trading countries of the Middle East, has partnered with the United States in the Container Security Initiative to screen U.S.-bound shipping containers passing through ports in Dubai, the report said.
The central bank of the emirates provided training programs to financial institutions to detect money laundering and terrorist financing, the report said. The central bank investigated financial transactions and froze accounts in response to U.N. resolutions and internal investigations and to date has begun regulating approximately 160 hawalas, or informal money remittance and exchange businesses. The emirates Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowment has drafted guidance regarding the content of Friday mosque sermons, emphasizing the virtues of moderate Islam. All the security agencies have been placed under a newly established National Security Agency, the report said.
Algeria has had so much success fighting terrorism that the issue is now considered to be more a threat against public safety than a strategic threat to national security, the report said. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika introduced a Charter on Peace and National Reconciliation that encouraged terrorists and their sympathizers to turn themselves in and in some cases reintegrate into society, the report said.
The Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 are available on the State Department Web site, as is the regional overview (PDF, 22 pages) or the Middle East and North Africa.
For additional information, see Response to Terrorism and Middle East and North Africa.
(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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