Islamic Terror Networks on the Offensive
Internet Links Terror Groups
March 24, 2003
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2003 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
Islamic terror networks present a formidable danger - including to those nations opposing the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
In Berlin and Paris, police officials are expressing alarm over terrorist activity, while "moderate" Arab nations find themselves vulnerable to radical Islamic subversion.
A warrant for the arrest of a 32-year-old "North African" was recently issued on charges of weapons possession and forgery, according to the German news daily, Die Welt.
The suspect is believed to be planning - along with other "Islamic terrorists" -- attacks on German soil. German police are pressing the hunt, and have already searched several buildings in Berlin's Islamic community, states Die Welt.
French police recently discovered quantities of the deadly toxin "ricine" in Paris and Lyons, and are hunting for a "new group of Islamic terrorists," according to the right-of-center French news daily, Le Figaro.
The discovery of ricine in the French capital and in a major city prompted Prefect of Police Jean-Paul Proust to acknowledge that in the European community "there are individuals…working to produce chemicals [for possible terror attacks]," reports Le Figaro.
The French Directory for Terror Surveillance (DST) earlier warned of "the clandestine introduction of toxic substances in Europe."
The developments in France and Germany follow closely upon the arrest of suspected terrorists in Great Britain, America's closest ally in the war in Iraq.
"Religious ideological terror" threatens "moderate" Arab states - nations usually willing to cooperate overtly or covertly with Western interests, especially with the United States. Expressions of opposition to the attack on the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein are not deterring Islamic militants from plotting the destruction of "moderate" Arab governments, according to a report from the Italian news daily, La Stampa.
Radical Islamic terror networks are combining with those disaffected from the ruling elite of moderate Muslim states, La Stampa declares.
An "alliance" between "clerical ideologues" preaching a religious message "without pity" and a "substrata" of Muslim society hostile to present Arab governments is producing the "dark sign of a new Islamic terror," observes La Stampa.
Cyber warfare is part of the "new Islamic terror," linking terrorists and their supporters throughout the world, and combining the message of militant Islam with the immediacy of the Internet. The sophisticated use of the Internet enables Islamic militants to quickly respond to U.S. "psychological operations" with the intent of countering American information and opinion.
Iraq alone has some 25 Internet sites, while other Islamic web locations present Muslim clerics declaring the "responsibility of all good Muslims to aid their Iraqi brothers…by whatever means they possess," reports La Stampa.
The Islamic Internet network offers interactive commentaries and rapid news reports, which can surpass the speed of satellite television reporting, according to La Stampa.
See also: Al Qaeda Calls for World-Wide Campaign of Espionage, Sabotage.
Copyright 2003
International News Analysis Today
INA Today.com
2364 Jackson St. #301
Stoughton, WI 53589 U.S.A.
Unique sources -- unique information -- news and analysis you will find nowhere else.
Read International News Analysis.
Order 12 issues of International News Analysis
for only $29.95 (U.S. funds; $39.95 Canadian and overseas).
Send subscriptions to:
International News Analysis
2364 Jackson St. #301
Stoughton, WI 53589 U.S.A.
Return to INA TODAY.com homepage
