US: No evidence of direct Syrian involvement in terrorism
Syria-Regional, Politics, 5/3/1999

The US State Department has said that there is no evidence of the involvement of Syrian officials in carrying out or planning international terrorism attacks since 1986.

In its annual report "Patterns of Global Terrorism" for 1998, the US State Department the US named four Arab states -- Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Sudan -- among seven states worldwide that sponsor terrorism.

The report said, "Press reports indicated that Iraqi intelligence agents may have been planning an attack against Radio Free Europe in Prague in October 1998." It also accused Iraq of working to rebuild its intelligence network, which the report said Iraq had used in the past to support terrorism.

The report also referred to Iraqi opposition claims that Iraq plans to assassinate exiles and that it assassinated Shiite clerics Ayatollah Morteza Borujerdi and Ayatollah Ali Gharavi in 1998.

It also noted press reports that Abu Nidal may have relocated to Iraq and cited Iraq's hosting of the Iranian opposition group the Mujaheedin al-Khalq and "Palestinian rejectionist groups."

"Libya remains the primary suspect in several other past terrorist operations, including the La Belle discotheque bombing in Berlin in 1986," it said, adding that despite sanctions, "Tripoli in 1998 continued to harass and intimidate expatriate dissidents." It acknowledged that Libya had not been implicated in international terrorist acts "for several years," while stating that it hosts "Palestinian terrorist groups."

The report had strong criticism for Sudan, which it said "continued to serve as a meeting place, safehaven, and training hub for a number of international terrorist groups, particularly Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization." It stated that Sudan still is not in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions 1044, 1054, and 1070, calling on Sudan to hand over three Egyptian Gamaa al-Isliamyah members who are linked to a 1995 assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and to end all support to terrorists.

Last year, the US bombed a Sudanese factory under the allegation that it produced dangerous chemicals, where Sudan challenged the US to prove its case and take this issue to an international body. Sudan invited many observers to the factory afterwards to prove its case.

Previous Stories:
  UN human rights commission passes resolutions on occupied Arab territories   (4/24/1999)
  Libya hands over two Libyan suspects to Dutch authorities   (4/5/1999)
  US sanctions Russian firms over Syrian weapons sales   (4/3/1999)
  Sudan refutes US accusations over terrorism   (3/11/1999)
  Riyadh backs an international agreement to fight terrorism   (1/29/1999)
  On the terrorist acts in Yemen   (1/13/1999)

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