Tuesday, January 22, 2002

World braced for terror

PV Vivekanand

WITH the military campaign in Afghanistan all but over, thousands of people around the world are living in terror anxiously awaiting the hammer to strike on them for no reason other than simply knowing some of the prisoners of war taken by the US in Afghanistan. Indeed many others might not even know of the sword swinging towards them.
The US has so far maintained a tight lid on the findings of its investigations with the thousands of Taliban and non-Afghan fighters of Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.
Apart from gathering evidence about the Sept.11 attacks in New York and Washington, the US is seeking information on what it describes as "sleepers" of the Al Qaeda network who, according to Washington, are lying low in at least 50 countries from the Philippines to Canada awaiting word from each other to plan new attacks.
Intelligence sources say that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is building a "data base" of names and details of the "sleepers" drawing from information gained through interrogating the detainees held in Afghanistan and those moved to the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
True that there here might be remnants of Al Qaeda in some countries, but it seems to be out of place for the US to assert that the group had built up such a large network of operatives. They say that the US assertion is providing ammunition for many governments to launch crackdowns that would otherwise be seen as violation of human rights. But that is a different issue altogether.
Information the "sleepers" is the prime objective of the US while dealing with the thousands of prisoners of war taken in Afghanistan. More often than not, simply knowing them could be dangerous for others, however innocent they might be. Many might even recollect knowing them but that is not going to be an issue for the CIA.
It is quite simple. Anyone who was an acquaintance of an Al Qaeda member is a suspect and risks detention and questioning wherever they are. That is what is happening today in some countries (Britain, Spain, Italy and Jordan are examples).
The CIA has not shared all the information it has with the partners of the US in the war against terrorism, and experts believe it would be selective in offering information and only when it is ready to do so.
The US cannot get to the alleged layers of "sleepers" without help from the local government, and information will be provided to them on a case-by-case, need-to-know basis, experts say.
Washington might also use the leeway of a law it adopted in the late 80s that allows it to try people accused of plotting or carrying out attacks against American citizens. An extension of that law permits US security and law enforcement agencies to even kidnap suspects for trial in the US.
There have been several instances since then where US agents lured suspected hijackers and kidnappers of American citizens into situations where they were kidnapped and ferried to the US to stand trial. They included a Lebanese national who was involved in the 1987 hijack of a Royal Jordanian airliner in which an American navy diver was killed. The suspect was lured to a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean by a woman agent and arrested as he boarded the vessel. He was flown to the US and given a life sentence after being found guilty by a US court.
Innocents could face ordeals if it was found that they have had the slightest brush with Al Qaeda members even if it was before the group was formed. That is the extent to which the CIA is willing to go in its campaign.
US intelligence documents drawn up since Sept. 11 identify dozens of cities and groups around the world as: "financing and banking centre," "militant training centre," "Islamist group with links to Al Qaeda," "Al Qaeda cell," and "Al Qaeda strategic planning centre." These include Mindano in the Philippines, Pakistani cities and towns including Peshawar, Khost, Islamabad and Karachi, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sanaa and Aden in Yemen, Amman in Jordan, Nairobi in Kenya, Dar es Salam in Tanzania, Mogadishu in Somalia, Khartoum in Sudan, Algeria, Tripoli in Libya, Nicosia in Cyprus, Sofia in Bulgaria, Sarajevo in Bosnia, Milan in Italy, Hamburg n Germany, Madrid in Spain, Paris and London.
Interestingly, the list excludes India despite New Delhi's assertions that Al Qaeda operatives are living in hiding in the country. Iraq and Iran are also excluded from the list.
Included in the list are US cities like Portland, Boston, New York, Miami, Arlington (Texas), and Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal in Canada.
Some of the governments have already been given some information on the presence on their soil of suspects, and some arrests have been made.
But the "big wave" of crackdown, either by the host government or by US agents has yet to come. And when it comes, it would be sweeping and all-embracing.