Middle Eastern terrorist groups and their state sponsors continued to plan,
train for, and carry out acts of terrorism in 1999 at a level comparable to
that of the previous year. Casualties remained relatively low, partly as result
of counterterrorist measures by various governments, improved international
cooperation, and the absence of major incidents that might have caused high
numbers of fatalities. Nonetheless, certain terrorist groups remained active
and continued to try to mount lethal attacks. These included Usama Bin Ladin's
multinational al-Qaida organization as well as The Islamic Resistance Movement
(HAMAS) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), both of which receive support from
Iran.
In Egypt, for the first time in years, there were no terrorism-related deaths,
due in large measure to successful counterterrorist efforts by the Egyptian
Government and a cease-fire declared by the Gama'at al-Islamiyya, Egypt's largest
terrorist group. Egyptian authorities released more than 2,000 Gama'at prisoners
during the year but continued to arrest and convict other active Gama'at terrorists
as well as Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) members. The EIJ continued to threaten
Egyptian and U.S. interests despite the eruption of internal schisms that wracked
the group during the year.
The Algerian Government also made progress in combating domestic terrorism
during the year, undertaking aggressive counterinsurgency operations against
the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), weakening the GIA's campaign of indiscriminate
violence against civilians. The pace of killings slowed, but suspected GIA militants
still carried out massacres, the worst of which left 27 dead in a village in
Bechar in August. The Islamic Salvation Army maintained its cease-fire throughout
the year.
Palestinians and Israeli Arabs opposed to the peace process mounted small-scale
terrorist attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, injuring a small number
of civilians. Several failed bombing attempts were traced to HAMAS and the PIJ.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) scored successes in their efforts
to disrupt these groups' operations; Israeli officials publicly credited the
PA with preventing a bombing in Tel Aviv in March.
Jordanian authorities in December arrested a group of terrorists associated
with Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization reportedly planning to attack US
and Israeli targets in connection with millennium events. Jordan also closed
the Amman offices of the HAMAS political bureau in August, arrested a number
of HAMAS activists, and expelled several group leaders.
Overall security conditions in Lebanon continued to improve in 1999, despite
several local terrorist incidents that included the assassination of four judges
in Sidon in June. The lack of effective government control in parts of Beirut,
the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon enabled numerous terrorist groups to
operate with impunity, as they had in previous years. Hizballah, HAMAS, the
PIJ, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC),
and other Palestinian groups used camps in Lebanon for training and operational
planning. Hizballah continued to fire rockets from southern Lebanon at civilian
centers in Israel. The Lebanese Government remained unresponsive to U.S. requests
for cooperation in bringing to justice terrorists responsible for attacks on
US citizens in the 1980s.
Iran, Syria, and Iraq all persisted in their direct or indirect state sponsorship
of terrorism. In most cases, the support included providing assistance, training,
or safehaven to terrorist groups opposed to the Middle East peace process. In
some cases, particularly Iran, it also included targeting regime dissidents
and opponents for assassination or harassment. Libyan support for terrorism
has declined significantly in recent years, but Libya continued to have residual
contacts and relationships with terrorist organizations.
Algeria
The Government of Algeria in 1999 made significant progress in combating domestic
terrorism, which President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said has claimed approximately
100,000 lives since Islamist extremists began their brutal campaign to overthrow
the secular regime in 1992. As a result, terrorist attacks--especially against
civilians--decreased significantly. Increased factionalization within the ranks
of Antar Zouabri's Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and Hassan Hattab's dissident faction,
the Salafi Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), contributed further to the reduction
in terrorist activity. Bouteflika, who in April replaced President Liamine Zeroual,
initiated an amnesty plan under the Law on Civil Concord that is intended to
expand the cease-fire with the Islamic Salvation Army that took effect in October
1997. At yearend the government was attempting to convince the GSPC to surrender,
but dissidents within the GSPC and the GIA--which denounced the reconciliation
plan and vowed to continue fighting--were attempting to thwart those efforts.
No foreign nationals were killed in Algeria during the year. Although the tempo
of violence in Algeria decreased noticeably in 1999, the killings continued.
The worst terrorist incident occurred on 17 August when suspected GIA extremists
massacred 27 civilians in Bechar near the Moroccan border. In November a senior
official of the banned Islamic Salvation Front, Abdelkader Hachani, was assassinated.
Other massacres and acts of violence continued throughout the year.
Egypt
No terrorist-related deaths were reported in Egypt in 1999. In early September,
a lone assailant attacked President Hosni Mubarak during a campaign rally in
Port Said. Mubarak was wounded slightly, but it is unclear whether the attack
had links to terrorism. The absence of international terrorist incidents in
1999 is attributable in part to the unilateral cease-fire that Egypt's largest
terrorist group, al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, issued in March and in part to successful
Egyptian counterterrorist efforts. Al-Gama'at's incarcerated spiritual leader,
Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, initiated the cease-fire, which senior Gama'at leaders
imprisoned in Egypt later endorsed. Al-Gama'at's external leaders also endorsed
the cease-fire in an attempt to negotiate with the Egyptian Government for the
release of their jailed comrades. Although Cairo said publicly it would not
negotiate with al-Gama'at, it released more than 2,000 Gama'at prisoners during
the year. The Egyptian Government continued to arrest other Gama'at members
in Egypt, and security officials in September disrupted a Gama'at cell outside
Cairo, resulting in the death of Farid Kidwani, the group's operational leader
in Egypt.
The Egyptian Government tried and convicted more than 100 Egyptian extremists
in April, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) members responsible for planning
an attack against the US Embassy in Albania in August 1998. A faction of the
EIJ closely allied to Usama Bin Ladin's organization continued to levy threats
against the United States.
Gama'at leader Rifa'i Taha Musa--who is closely associated with Bin Ladin--broke
ranks with other Gama'at leaders, threatening anti-US action in October and
warning in late November of another attack similar to the one at Luxor in November
1997 that killed 58 foreign tourists. International counterterrorist cooperation
remained a key foreign policy priority for the Egyptian Government in 1999.
Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip
Violence and terrorism by Palestinian groups opposed to the peace process
continued in 1999. Throughout the year, HAMAS and the PIJ were responsible for
numerous small-scale attacks, such as shootings and stabbings, although the
number of incidents continued to decline from previous years. Among the more
notable attacks were two failed bombing attempts in Haifa and Tiberias on 5
September carried out by Israeli Arabs working on behalf of HAMAS's military
wing. The bombs--intended for Israeli buses--exploded prematurely, killing three
of the perpetrators and injuring two Israelis.
Other terrorist incidents included a shooting in early August in Hebron that
injured two Israeli settlers; a double murder of a young Israeli couple hiking
near Megiddo in late August; and several explosions of homemade pipe bombs in
Netanya in August, November, and December, one of which injured more than 30
Israelis. In mid-August a West Bank Palestinian, who was reported to have been
inspired by literature on HAMAS, rammed his car into a group of hitchhiking
Israeli soldiers, injuring at least 11. In late October a shooting attack on
a bus near the Tarqumiya junction wounded five Israelis.
Israel continued vigorous counterterrorist operations, including numerous arrests
and seizures of weapons and explosives. In early May, Israeli officials uncovered
a plan to smuggle several wanted Palestinians--who were carrying paraphernalia
for manufacturing bombs--from Gaza into Israel. In mid-August, Israeli authorities
apprehended seven members of a PIJ cell near Janin who admitted to perpetrating
four attacks on Israelis dating back to 1998. Israeli authorities also captured
a four-man PIJ squad in late August as the men tried to infiltrate into Israel
to carry out a suicide mission. In mid-December an undercover unit of the Israeli
Defense Force killed two HAMAS members--one of whom was a leader of the group's
military wing--in a shootout near Hebron. Authorities detained three other HAMAS
militants in the incident.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which was responsible for security in Gaza
and most major West Bank cities, continued to act against Palestinian perpetrators
of violence against Israel. The PA's security forces preempted several terrorist
attacks over the year, including the arrests in mid-May of two close associates
of a senior HAMAS military leader and, in early June, of 10 HAMAS members who
planned to carry out anti-Israeli bombings. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
and other senior officials publicly acknowledged the continuing improvement
in Israeli-PA security cooperation. Israeli security officials publicly credited
the Palestinian security services for foiling a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv
in March and for preventing at least two attacks against Israeli civilians in
October. The PA also sought more actively to develop leads about HAMAS and PIJ
activity and acted--in some cases--in cooperation with Israel to disrupt the
groups' activities. While the PA's counterterrorist campaign showed improvement,
it continued to face challenges from the resilient terrorist infrastructure
of groups opposed to the peace process.
In early September the PA and Israel signed a follow-on accord to the Wye agreement
at Sharm el-Sheikh, which reaffirmed a number of provisions regarding security
cooperation.
Jordan
There were no major international terrorist attacks in Jordan in 1999. Jordan
continued its strong counterterrorist stand, highlighted by the arrests in December
of several extremists reportedly planning terrorist attacks against US and Israeli
tourists during millennium celebrations in Jordan, its crackdown on HAMAS in
August, and its quick response to various security incidents in the latter part
of the year.
In early December, Jordanian authorities arrested a group of Jordanians, an
Iraqi, and an Algerian with ties to Bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization who reportedly
were planning to carry out terrorist operations against US and Israeli tourists
visiting Jordan over the new year. The Jordanians in mid-December took custody
of Khalil al-Deek, a dual US-Jordanian citizen arrested in Pakistan, who allegedly
had links to the arrested group. Some group members had undergone explosives
and weapons training in Afghanistan, according to Jordanian authorities.
In late August, Jordanian authorities closed the HAMAS Political Bureau offices
in Amman, detained 21 HAMAS members, and issued arrest warrants for the group's
senior Jordan-based leaders, three of whom were in Iran at the time. Jordanian
officials arrested two of the HAMAS officials--Jordanian citizens Khalid Mishal
and Ibrahim Ghawsha--upon their return to Amman in September and refused entry
to a third--Musa Abu Marzuq, who holds Yemeni citizenship. Jordanian authorities
in November expelled Mishal, Ghawsha, and two other members to Qatar; released
the remaining detainees; and announced that the HAMAS offices would remain closed
permanently. Charges against the HAMAS officials included possession of weapons
and explosives for use in illegal acts--crimes that can carry the death penalty.
Several low-level incidents kept security forces focused on combating threats
to the Kingdom. Police in Ma'an detained approximately 60 suspects in connection
with the firebombings on 25 October of cars belonging to professors at al-Hussein
University and Ma'an Community College and a machinegun attack two days later
on a female student residence at al-Hussein University. Leaflets distributed
by a group calling itself the "Islamic Awakening Youths" charged that
the professors were masons and that the female students fraternized with men.
The assailants appeared to have ties to the outlawed al-Tahrir movement, which
was the target of a government crackdown in 1998.
In late November, Jordanian authorities arrested a 22-year-old Jordanian of
Palestinian descent who had pointed a fake gun at the Israeli Embassy in Amman.
An Embassy guard shot the suspect in the hand, wounding him slightly. Authorities
released him after it was determined that he had not committed any crime, had
a history of mental problems, and was not affiliated with any terrorist group.
The Jordanian State Security Court in April sentenced members of the outlawed
"Reform and Defiance Movement"--a small, mostly indigenous radical
Islamist group--for conducting a string of small bombings in Amman between mid-March
and early May 1998 targeting Jordanian security forces, the Modern American
School, and a major hotel. The attacks caused minor property damage but no casualties.
The individuals were convicted of membership in an illegal terrorist organization,
possession of illegal arms and explosives, and conspiracy to commit terrorist
acts. Three were convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment with
hard labor, while another received a 15-year prison sentence. Three others were
acquitted. Meanwhile, no ruling was issued against six members of the Takfir
wa al-Hijra (Apostasy and Migration) group, whose case was referred to the courts
in October 1998. The six had been arrested for possession and sale of explosives
with the intent to conduct terrorist attacks.
Amman continued to maintain tight security along its borders to thwart any
attempts to smuggle weapons and explosives via Jordan to Palestinian rejectionist
groups in the West Bank. Jordan permitted the limited presence-- and monitored
closely the activities--of several Palestinian rejectionist groups, including
the PIJ, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Amman allowed HAMAS members
to reside in Jordan but banned them from engaging in activities on behalf of
the group.
The Jordanian Government was outspoken in its support for the Middle East peace
process and made it clear it would not tolerate efforts to undermine the negotiations
from its territory. Senior government officials, including King Abdallah, condemned
major terrorist incidents in the region, including attacks by Palestinian rejectionist
groups against Israeli targets. In October, Jordan hosted a meeting between
leaders of the DFLP and Israeli Knesset members to discuss the possible entry
of DFLP members into the Palestinian-controlled areas.
Jordan continued to cooperate with other regional states and the United States
concerning terrorist threats to the region. In August the government refused
to grant a request by a lower house of Parliament committee to pardon Ahmed
Daqamseh, a Jordanian soldier who killed six Israeli schoolgirls in 1997, and
11 Jordanian "Arab Afghans" serving life sentences for their conviction
in 1995 for plotting against the state.
Lebanon
Security conditions in Lebanon continued to improve in 1999 despite a series
of terrorist-related activities. The government's continued lack of control
in parts of the country, however--including portions of the Bekaa Valley, Beirut's
southern suburbs, Palestinian refugee camps, and south Lebanon--and easy access
to arms and explosives throughout much of the country contributed to an environment
with the potential for acts of violence. The Lebanese Government did not exert
full control over militia groups engaged in fighting in and near the so-called
security zone occupied by Israel and its proxy militia, the Army of South Lebanon.
A variety of terrorist groups continued to operate with relative impunity in
those areas, conducting terrorist training and other operational activities.
The groups include Hizballah, HAMAS, the PIJ, the PFLP-GC, the Abu Nidal organization
(ANO), Asbat al-Ansar, and several local Sunni extremist organizations. Hizballah
represents the most potent threat to U.S. interests in Lebanon by an organized
group. Although Hizballah has not attacked US targets in Lebanon since 1991,
its animosity toward the United States has not abated, and the group continued
to monitor the U.S. Embassy and its personnel in the country. Hizballah leaders
routinely denounced US policies in the region and continued to condemn the peace
process.
Lebanon suffered several terrorist attacks in 1999 involving local actors and
victims. On 8 September, for example, a bomb exploded at the Customs Department
office in Sidon, causing no injuries. Unidentified gunmen on 8 June shot and
killed four judges at a courthouse in Sidon. Although Lebanese authorities had
not apprehended the assailants, they believed the Palestinian extremist group
Asbat al-Ansar was responsible. Moreover, a previously unknown group, the Liberation
Army of Veneration, on 28 June issued a communiqué containing a death
threat to the U.S. Ambassador in Lebanon. Local authorities speculated that the
Asbat al-Ansar was behind the threat.
The Lebanese Government continued to support international counterterrorist
initiatives. It agreed in principle to examine a Japanese request to take custody
of five Japanese Red Army members whose jail sentences in Lebanon end in March
2000. The Lebanese Government, however, did not act on repeated US requests
to turn over Lebanese terrorists involved in the hijacking in 1985 of TWA flight
847 and in the abduction, torture, and--in some cases--murders of US hostages
from 1984 to 1991.
Saudi Arabia
Several threats against US military and civilian personnel and facilities
in Saudi Arabia were reported in 1999, but there were no terrorist incidents.
Terrorist Usama Bin Ladin, based in Afghanistan, continued publicly to threaten
US interests in Saudi Arabia during the year.
The Saudi Arabian Government, at all levels, continued to reaffirm its commitment
to combating terrorism. Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah stated publicly that terrorist
actions are un-Islamic and called for a "concerted international effort"
to eradicate terrorism. The Saudi Minister of Defense indicated during a visit
to Washington that he was determined to work with the United States to defeat
terrorism. The Saudis urged the Taliban to expel Bin Ladin from Afghanistan
so that he may be brought to justice in another country. | 
