Author: Valentin Kunin
Publication: The Statesman
Date: September 22, 2001
Obviously the problem of intensifying
the struggle against international terrorism will be the basic, if not
the main subject on the agenda of the 56th session of the UN General Assembly.
The recent horrifying act of terrorism
against the United States which took the toll of thousands of innocent
people has once again highlighted the need for the world community to urgently
work out roads, methods and effective steps for countering international
terrorism.
The tragedy in America has clearly
confirmed the irrefutable truth that today not a single state, not even
the mightiest one, can afford to ignore the problem of terrorism, or in
all earnest count upon resolving it alone.
There is hardly any doubt that international
terrorism is becoming, if it has not already become, one of the most dangerous
challenges universal security and stability have ever faced not only in
separate regions, but also worldwide. And it is not accidental that the
participants in the 54th session of the UN General Assembly qualified in
a statement adopted on Russia's initiative the task of the struggle against
international terrorism as the world community's "absolute priority." This
stand was confirmed by the leaders of the UN member-states at last year's
Millennium Summit, as well.
During the past few decades acts
of terrorism have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Such
statesmen as President of Egypt Anwar Sadat, Prime Minister of Sweden Olof
Palme, Prime Minister of Israel Itzhak Rabin, Prime Ministers of India
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated by terrorists. International
terrorism is many-faced - it includes right and left extremists, separatists,
and "fighters" for the "ethnic purity" of one or another nation. But what
poses the greatest danger now is religious extremism. Its representatives
are trying to pass as "defenders of the true Islamic faith."
CHECHNYA CRISIS
However, these people have nothing
in common with genuine Islam. They are religious fanatics or political
adventure-seekers who are trying to use the teachings of Islam and separatist
slogans to promote their own selfish ends. The crisis in Chechnya is a
very vivid example to show this. Within a few years only the ringleaders
of the Chechen "independence fighters" have managed to turn that small
North Caucasian republic which is part of Russia into a criminal zone where
gangs of terrorists bossed around and from where actions of mass-scale
terror were orchestrated in various Russian cities and regions neighbouring
on Chechnya. Several thousand peaceful citizens fell victim to these actions.
In this situation the counter-terrorist operation aimed at completely eliminating
the bandit formations, which the federal authorities launched in the autumn
of 1999, was rather well-grounded. The events in Chechnya have clearly
demonstrated that in the past few years terrorism has finally reached beyond
the state borders and that the zone of its activity is increasingly expanding,
creating a kind of "terrorist international." The groupings it incorporates
help each other with money, manpower and weapons, and work out joint terrorist
actions.
Russian secret services have received
irrefutable proof showing that the Chechen separatists were supported by
various terrorist organisations from a number of Arab countries, as well
as by international terrorist No.1 Osama bin Laden. The latter not only
provided Chechen field commanders with millions of dollars, but also organised
the transfer of thousands of mercenaries to Chechnya.
GLOBAL SCALE
Bin Laden's actions are vivid illustration
of how dangerous the current scale of international terrorism is. According
to information from the US Congress, that terrorist's emissaries are now
active in 34 countries in different regions of the world, including Europe
(Albania, Kosovo) and some countries of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). And in Afghanistan, where
bin Laden has found shelter, he finances 25 special camps where thousands
of gunmen are being trained. The analysts of the Intelligence Bureau of
India believe that at present at least 35,000 people are subordinated to
bin Laden, and they are ready to carry out acts of terrorism. What causes
particular concern are bin Laden's attempts to gain access to mass destruction
weapons. According to evidence from bin Laden's associates who were arrested
after they carried out terrorist acts against US embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania in 1998, bin Laden's organisation tried to gain access to nuclear
weapons in the early 1990s, but failed. According to information from the
secret services of a number of countries, experiments with bacteriological
weapons were carried out in bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan.
There is no guarantee that bin Laden
or the ringleaders of other major terrorist groupings, once they gain access
to mass destruction weapons, will hesitate before using them. And not only
against the "embodiment of world evil" as they call the United States,
but against any state.
In this situation the world community
has no other way out but to rally efforts to effectively counter international
terrorism. And there is no doubt that the main role there belongs to the
United Nations Organisation. The author is RIA Novosti's Political Analyst.
