Report says Iraq becoming terrorist safe haven State Department cites threat of small groups tied to al Qaeda >From Elise Labott CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department's annual terrorism report finds that Iraq is becoming a safe haven for terrorists and has attracted a "foreign fighter pipeline" linked to terrorist plots, cells and attacks throughout the world, a senior State Department official involved in the preparation of the report told CNN. The report, to be released Friday, also says terrorist groups loosely associated with al Qaeda present the greatest threat to the United States and the world, even greater than al Qaeda itself. The official told CNN that, with al Qaeda's senior leadership scattered and on the run, autonomous cells inspired by al Qaeda's extremist ideology present a greater challenge because they are smaller, harder to detect and more difficult to counter. "These micro-actors are launching more attacks, and they are more local and more lethal," the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the report had not been released, told CNN Thursday in an interview. This official cited last July's bombings in London by British Muslims with ties to Pakistan as an example of an increase in attacks by local terrorists with foreign ties. While the official described al Qaeda as "crippled and constrained without the strategic network" it once had, he said there are still indications al Qaeda is planning a spectacular terrorist attack on U.S. soil. "We have not been able to deliver the knockout punch to al Qaeda, and there is no doubt they are in the planning stages for something big," the official said. But, he added, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and deputy Ayman al- Zawahiri "might settle for something less" because of their diminished capacity. The official also said there is a belief that bin Laden and al- Zawahiri are in a power struggle with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, as evidenced by a letter written by al- Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi criticizing his tactics. The annual State Department's Patterns of Global Terrorism report will also cite Iraq as a key front in anti-terrorism efforts. The official acknowledged that Iraq has become "both a war and a cause," which has further radicalized Muslims. Noting that al-Zarqawi's network has claimed responsibility for a November suicide attack at a hotel in Amman, Jordan, and an August attack against U.S. Navy ships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba, the official said it is evident that al-Zarqawi wants to expand his network worldwide. The official said the report will emphasize the Bush administration's increased attention to denying terrorists safe haven -- either physically or in cyberspace. While a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in 2001 requires all member states to deny safe haven to terrorists and stop their ability to raise funds and acquire weapons, it has not been fully implemented. The countries on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list -- Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria -- will remain on the list. The official said the Bush administration was "encouraged" by Libya's progress, but there remained issues on "verification and compliance" before Tripoli could be taken off the list. Although Sudan has also cooperated with international anti-terrorism efforts and met most U.S. benchmarks, the official said the Sudanese government's direct involvement in the "horrors" in Darfur preclude Khartoum from being taken off the list. The official said the incidence of terrorist acts tallied in this year's report will be up significantly because of new congressional legislation mandating that domestic acts of terrorism be counted as well. For example, deaths as a result of sectarian attacks among Iraq's ethnic groups will be counted, as will around 30,000 kidnappings by Maoists in Nepal. Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/terror.report/index.html SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> 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/
