http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
Intelligence agencies see Al Qaida attacks on Europe in 2005 Western counter-insurgency officials said Al Qaida was maintaining sleeper cells in Europe in preparation for major attacks this year. Al Qaida was expected to follow up its train bombings in Spain in 2004 with other mass-casualty strikes in European Union states. "The threat of terrorism remains very real and serious and affects us all," said EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vrieshe. De Vrieshe issued the warning at a security conference in Brussels on Feb. 3, which focused on Al Qaida's threat. He called for greater intelligence sharing between EU and the United States. The U.S. intelligence community has also determined that Al Qaida would strike Europe in 2005. Officials said Al Qaida regarded the train bombings in Madrid in March 2004 � in which nearly 200 people were killed � as a success. "We must all face the fact that we all now find ourselves at risk," said William Pope, acting anti-terrorism coordinator at the U.S. State Department. "Unfortunately reality is that Al Qaida has proven itself resilient, despite our best efforts. It remains an active and dangerous opponent. While less effective as an organization, Al Qaida seems to be becoming more powerful as an idea and inspiration." Pope said Al Qaida has survived a crackdown by EU authorities in 2004 and was prepared to launch non-conventional strikes. He said EU and other Western states could see many of their young citizens join an Islamic holy war. At a conference of finance ministers in London, the United States called for greater efforts to halt funding to insurgency groups. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary John Taylor cited Al Qaida and Hamas. "By breaking the financial backbone of terrorist groups and insurgents, we can encumber and thwart their short-term ambitions while rupturing and dismantling their long-term agendas," Taylor said on Feb. 4. "Choking off funds that aid terrorist efforts can lead to the ultimate ruin of terrorist organizations." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
