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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
1994 APRIL: PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM, 1993
Department of State Publication 10136
Office of the Secretary
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
EUROPEAN OVERVIEW
CONTENTS
International terrorism in Europe increased in 1993, primarily because of
attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Turkish targets throughout
Western Europe. No Americans died in any attacks during the year, although
one American was kidnapped and eventually released by the PKK in Turkey.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and Loyalist paramilitaries
continued their violent activity in the United Kingdom, mostly against
domestic targets in Northern Ireland. In Spain, the Basque Fatherland and
Liberty (ETA) continued its attacks as well. Elsewhere, leftwing groups
such as Germany's Red Army Faction (RAF) and Italy's Red Brigades showed
renewed signs of activity; the RAF undertook its first terrorist operation
in two years.
Anarchist and skinhead groups in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland
and the Czech Republic, have engaged in violent demonstrations and clashes
but have not engaged in acts of terrorism. In December, Polish anarchists
held pro-PKK demonstrations at the German Consulate in Krakow.
Antiforeigner violence by skinheads continues to be a problem in most East
European countries.
On 9 November, the French Government responded to the killing of two
French citizens and the kidnapping of three French Consular officers in
Algeria by ordering the roundup of suspected Algerian Muslim extremists. In
addition, in reaction to PKK activities in France, on 18 November police
throughout France rounded up more than 100 alleged PKK members, including
the suspected leader and deputy of the group in France; 24 of those
arrested have been charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism. On 30
November, the French Cabinet voted to ban two groups--the Kurdistan
Committee and the Federation of Kurdistan Cultural Associations and
Patriotic Workers--which were front organizations for the PKK. On 9
December, French police rounded up a number of Tunisian Islamic extremists,
including Saleh Karkar, a founder of Tunisia's banned An- Nahda Party.
Despite an extradition request from Switzerland, on 30 December, France
released two Iranian suspects in the assassination of an Iranian opposition
leader in Geneva in 1990. The French Government explained its action by
stating that it took this step in pursuit of French national interest.
Finally, the two suspects accused of murdering former Iranian Prime
Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar remain in prison awaiting trial in 1994.
The radical leftist German Red Army Faction (RAF) undertook its first
terrorist operation in two years by blowing up an empty prison complex with
at least 400 pounds of explosives on 27 March. On 27 June, German police
arrested RAF commando-level member Birgit Hogefeld. RAF terrorist Wolfgang
Grams died during the operation. Three separate German commissions refuted
charges that the police had "executed" Grams, judging instead
that he had committed suicide. Following the decline of Communism, the
group has turned its attention to domestic issues and has said its primary
targets will be the German justice system and officials involved in German
and European unification. The RAF has not attacked US interests since
strafing the US Embassy in February 1991. German rightwing extremists were
somewhat less active than in 1992 but continued to pose a threat to
foreigners. In October, neo-Nazi hooligans attacked US Olympic athletes at
a bar in Oberhof in eastern Germany. Two perpetrators were convicted for
their roles in the incident. German authorities have cracked down on
rightwing groups, banning six and monitoring many others. Two arsonists
responsible for the deaths of three Turks received maximum sentences.
German authorities returned Hizballah member Abbas Ali Hammadi to
Lebanon on 6 August in accordance with the German penal practice of
releasing and deporting foreign convicts after they have served half their
sentence. Abbas Hammadi was given a 13-year sentence for plotting to kidnap
two West Germans in the hope of forcing the release of his brother,
Mohammed Hammadi, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for hijacking
and for murdering US Navy diver Robert Stethem.
German authorities responded to a violent wave of PKK attacks on 4
November by searching Kurdish offices and residences and confiscating PKK
material. The government also banned the PKK and 35 associated Kurdish
organizations on 26 November.
The new socialist government, which was elected in October, asked
Parliament to strike down the so-called antiterrorism law passed by the
previous conservative government in 1990. The Parliament repealed the law
in December. The law had broadened police powers to wiretap, open mail, and
freeze and confiscate assets; allowed authorities to hold suspects without
specifying charges if disclosure would harm an investigation; and provided
for jail terms and fines for publishing terrorist communiques. The trial of
suspected terrorist Georgios Balafas, who was arrested in December 1992 and
charged with maintaining a safehouse with explosives, had been scheduled
for November but was postponed by the new government.
The Greek Revolutionary Organization 17 November did not target US
interests this year or the previous year, but it remains a threat to US
citizens.
Italian leftists claiming ties to the "Red Brigades for the
Construction of the Combatant Communist Party" appeared to be
attempting to revive the Red Brigades terrorist group. On 2 September,
three individuals in a stolen car fired seven shots, and one of them threw
a grenade at the US Airbase in Aviano; there were no injuries. Aviano is
the staging base for US aircraft enforcing the no-fly zone over Bosnia.
Callers saying they represented the Red Brigades phoned three Italian
newspapers on 4 September to claim responsibility for the attack. In late
October, Italian police arrested nine individuals connected with the
attack, including the three who were directly involved. Police have
identified two of those three as Red Brigades members. The Red Brigades had
not conducted an attack since 1988 and had been largely inactive since
Italian and French police arrested many of the group's members in 1989.
Red Brigades founder Renato Curcio, who had been in jail since 1976, was
allowed to enter a work release program in April.
Spanish and French authorities continued to arrest key members of Basque
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA). Among those apprehended this year were the
group's main gunsmith and the suspected leader of ETA's Barcelona cell, who
was Spain's most wanted terrorist. French police also uncovered an
underground arms workshop and firing range belonging to the group. Despite
these losses, ETA continued to attack Spanish security officials and
Spanish and French commercial interests throughout the year. The most
spectacular of these attacks were two car bombs in Madrid on 21 June that
killed seven persons and injured 22 others, and two car bombs in Barcelona
on 29 October. During the summer, ETA set off several smaller bombs at
resort hotels along the Costa del Sol and at four locations in Barcelona,
including a building that had been part of the Olympic Village.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which continues to lead a growing
insurgency, posed the dominant terrorist threat in Turkey. Ending a
unilateral cease-fire in May, the group began a terrorist campaign against
the Turkish tourism industry, as well as attacks against Turkish security
forces including the massacre of 30 unarmed recruits. The PKK bombed
hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites and planted grenades on
Mediterranean beaches. In an effort to generate publicity, the PKK
kidnapped 19 Western tourists, including one American, traveling in eastern
Turkey; all were released unharmed.
The PKK staged two waves of attacks on dozens of Turkish diplomatic and
commercial facilities in several European countries last year. The first
round on 24 June consisted mostly of vandalism and demonstrations. They
occupied the Turkish Consulate in Munich for a day, and Turkish Embassy
officials killed a Kurdish demonstrator, who was storming the Embassy in
Bern, Switzerland. On 4 November, the PKK firebombed many of its targets,
killing a Turkish man in Wiesbaden, Germany. After the November attacks,
police officials in Germany swept through Kurdish offices and apartments,
confiscating PKK-related materials, while French police arrested more than
20 Kurds, including the two alleged PKK leaders in France. The German
Interior Minister banned the PKK and 35 associated organizations on 26
November, and France banned the PKK and the Kurdistan Committee on 29
November.
The leftist terrorist group Dev Sol is still recuperating from severe
factionalism and extensive Turkish police operations against it. During the
past two years, the Turkish National Police has hammered at the group,
killing a number of operatives, arresting dozens more, and eliminating
safehouses and weapons caches. In the winter of 1992, a faction of Dev Sol
members broke away from the main group, protesting a lack of leadership,
financial mismanagement, and apparent security breaches. The original group
is slowly establishing dominance over the breakaway faction in Turkey and
in Europe. Despite the turmoil, the group assassinated several Turkish
officials earlier in the fall, and it continues to target American
interests.
Sectarian violence accounted for the vast majority of terrorism in the
United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in 1993, and Loyalist
paramilitaries again caused more deaths than the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (PIRA). PIRA nonetheless remains the most active and lethal
terrorist group in Western Europe. In March, it exploded two bombs at
midday in a crowded shopping district in Warrington, killing two children.
In April, the group detonated its largest bomb ever--a truck bomb with
approximately 1 ton of explosives in the heart of London's financial
district. The blast killed a reporter, injured more than 40 people, and
resulted in damage estimated between $450 million and $1.5 billion.
PIRA also conducted several bombings in Belfast that prompted revenge
attacks by Loyalist paramilitaries. Altogether, Republican and Loyalist
attacks in Northern Ireland resulted in 84 deaths. Continued violence
during a period when PIRA was discussing the possibility of peace talks
with the British Government suggests the group may be divided on the issue.
The joint declaration issued in December by the British and Irish Prime
Ministers offered constitutional parties and Sinn Fein, the political wing
of PIRA, a part in negotiations in exchange for a permanent end to
terrorist activities.
Ethnic conflict and endemic violence continued to plague many parts of the
former Yugoslavia. Within this context, it was often difficult to separate
terrorism from other forms of violence. Nevertheless, small-scale terrorism
by unidentified attackers continues to pose a threat to foreign interests
in the former Yugoslavia. In March, a grenade was thrown at the US Embassy
in Belgrade, and a similar attack was made on the Bulgarian Embassy in
June. Several Serb leaders, including Radovan Karadzic, leader of the
Bosnian Serbs, and paramilitary leader Vojislav Seselj, have made numerous
public threats to conduct terrorism against Western interests if the West
intervenes in the war in Bosnia. Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic warned
in June that Bosnians living in Europe were likely to resort to terrorism
if the West did not come to Bosnia's aid, and outside terrorist groups are
reportedly providing support to the Bosnian Muslims. In August, Croatian
authorities confiscated weapons, explosives, and false documents from a
"terrorist" network that had been aiding Bosnia. Hizballah and
Iran have provided training to the Bosnian Muslim army.
Separatist and internal power struggles have spawned domestic violence
and could lead to acts of international terrorism. Domestic terrorism is
common in the Transcaucasus and the North Caucasus region of Russia. In
August, for example, unknown assassins in the North Caucasus killed Russian
Special Envoy Polyanichko. Russian extremist groups have threatened to use
terrorism against the government of President Boris Yel'tsin. In September,
the Union of Soviet Stalinists threatened to assassinate members of the
Yel'tsin government unless Stanislav Terekhov - charged with attacking the
CIS military headquarters - was released by the police. There were many
hijackings within the former Soviet Union, some with international
repercussions. In February, a flight from Perm was hijacked to Tallinn and
then Stockholm, where Swedish officials succeeded in getting the hijackers
to surrender. In September, Iranian dissidents hijacked an Aeroflot
Baku-to-Perm flight. Ukrainian authorities refueled the plane, provided it
with a navigator, and allowed it to continue to Norway.
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