01/07/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09631
TERRORIST GROUPS IN EUROPE
The United States has blocked the assets of six more terrorist groups. Five are active in Northern Ireland. They are the Continuity Irish Republican Army, Loyalist Volunteer Force, Orange Volunteers, Red Hand Defenders, and Ulster Defense Association, also called Ulster Freedom Fighters. The sixth group, the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group, has carried out terrorist attacks in Spain.
The U.S. action came after the fifteen nations of the European Union froze the assets of these and other terrorist groups. The E-U also joined the U.S. in a number of other anti-terrorist actions, including a freeze on the assets of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and on groups or individuals associated with Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
In the wake of the September 11th suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the E-U froze the assets of dozens of groups and individuals linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network and the Afghan Taleban. More recently, the E-U demanded that Chairman Yasser Arafat dismantle terrorist networks in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority.
The E-U actions show that European countries, among others, are taking seriously their obligation to fight terrorism. This obligation was made clear by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 1373, which requires every U-N member to crack down on terrorist financing. In addition, all countries have a responsibility to coordinate law-enforcement efforts and share intelligence.
Above all, as President George W. Bush told the U-N General Assembly in November, every country has "a responsibility to deny any sanctuary, safe haven or transit to terrorists. Every known terrorist camp must be shut down [and] its operators apprehended."
In Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition has fought and largely won the first battle against terrorism. But some al-Qaida terrorists are still on the loose in Afghanistan as well as in scores of other countries. And as the U.S. and E-U actions show, there are many other terrorist groups around the world that must be eradicated.
As President Bush said, "There is. . .no single event or action that is going to. . .make the threat of terrorism disappear. This. . .effort will continue until terrorism is rooted out."