U.S. gov't cites Sudan as state sponsor of terror - 10,999 terrorist attacks worldwide in 2009 claimed 14,971 lives

A new U.S. government report “Country Reports on Terrorism 2009,” released today, tracked the 10,999 terrorist attacks worldwide last year that claimed 14,971 lives. This reflected the lowest number in five years, down from a high of 14,443 attacks in 2006 that left 22,736 people dead.

The report identified Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba as state sponsors of terrorism, calling Iran the most active of the four.

Source: Report from United States Department of Defense
By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service - excerpt:

State Department: Al-Qaida Still Top U.S. Terror Threat
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2010 – Transnational terrorism poses the United States’ gravest security threat, with al-Qaida’s core in Pakistan remaining the most-formidable terrorist organization targeting the U.S. homeland, according to a new State Department report covering worldwide terrorist activity during 2009.

“Country Reports on Terrorism 2009,” released today, notes al-Qaida’s continued adaptability and resilience and concludes that its desire to attack the United States and its interests abroad “remains strong.”

Citing U.S. intelligence community assessments, the report concludes that al-Qaida actively plotted against the United States and continued recruiting, training and deploying operatives, including some from Western Europe and North America, during the reporting period. It also recognizes al-Qaida’s efforts to expand its operational capabilities by partnering with other terrorist groups, with varying degrees of success.

These developments came despite al-Qaida setbacks during 2009. The report cites a Pakistani military offensive aimed at eliminating military strongholds, the loss of many top leaders and conditions that have made it more difficult for al-Qaida to raise money, train recruits and plan attacks.

Daniel Benjamin, the department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said al-Qaida’s attacks on Muslims have hurt its standing in the Muslim world. The latest annual State Department report aims to enhance understanding of the international terrorist threat and help to shape efforts to confront it, he explained.

The report tracked the 10,999 terrorist attacks worldwide last year that claimed 14,971 lives. This reflected the lowest number in five years, down from a high of 14,443 attacks in 2006 that left 22,736 people dead.

The report identified Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba as state sponsors of terrorism. Calling Iran the most active of the four, the report said its support for extremists in the region “had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the [Persian] Gulf, jeopardized the tenuous peace in southern Lebanon and undermined the growth of democracy.”

Also identified in the report were terrorist safe havens, by region. In South Asia, it cited Afghanistan and Pakistan; in the Middle East, Iraq, northern Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen; in Africa, Somalia and the Trans-Sahara; and in East Asia and the Pacific, the Sulawesi Sea and Sulu Archipelago.

In the Western Hemisphere, the report identified Venezuela as well as the Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay tri-border area as terrorist safe havens. [...]

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Report by AFP - Thursday, 05 August 2010:

US declines to put NKorea back on terrorism blacklist

The Obama administration declined Thursday to put North Korea back on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism despite pressure from lawmakers to do so.

In its report for 2009, the State Department kept the same countries on the list as it did in 2008 -- Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Syria -- with Iran again listed as the "most active state sponsor of terrorism."

Former US president George W. Bush de-listed North Korea in 2008 after it vowed to end its nuclear program, agreed to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and pledged to disable its nuclear plants.

The Obama administration has kept it off the list again after citing narrow legal definition for what constitutes support for terrorism.

In June 2009, 16 US Republican Senators urged President Barack Obama's administration to place the communist regime back on the US blacklist.

The North conducted its second nuclear test the previous month and defied international criticism by firing a volley of short-range missiles and threatening to attack the capitalist South.

Though the report does not cover events this year, Republican senators renewed their call for North Korea to be listed again after South Korea and the United States blamed it for sinking a South Korean warship in March.

In keeping four countries on the blacklist, the Country Reports on Terrorism 2009 said "Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism".

"Iran?s financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf and undermined the growth of democracy," it said.

The US accuses Iran of actively supporting groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan, Shiite groups in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

On Sudan, the report said the government was cooperating with US counter-terrorism efforts, but said "Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist elements as well as elements of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS, remained in Sudan in 2009."

The report said the United States disagrees with Syria's support for what it calls national liberation movements, groups Washington considers are terrorist.

"Syria continued to provide safe-haven as well as political and other support to a number of designated Palestinian terrorist groups, including HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)," the report.

The report complained that Cuba still gives safe haven and ideological support for three terrorist organizations.

"The Government of Cuba has long assisted members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and Spain?s Basque Homeland and Freedom Organization (ETA), some having arrived in Cuba in connection with peace negotiations with the governments of Colombia and Spain," it said.

EU considers withdrawing Darfur poll observers - EU election monitors pull out of Darfur: AFP reporter

THE people of Sudan have had five years to prepare for the elections April 11. Soon the rainy season will arrive in Sudan, making many roads impassable. If one considers the possibility that gun toting anti-government groups in Sudan are all part of one group aiming to topple the Sudanese government by force, surely any delay in Sudan's elections (part of the CPA) plays into their hands. As noted here last week, the Darfur elections can be held at a later date:

[Paul Wesson, UK election observer in Sudan]: “I think the issue is that in the whole country you have 17 million people having an election and the election should not be delayed because of the actions of a few thousands people in one area. But if there is no election in that area, then that can be dealt with at a later stage, but the important thing is to have elections for the 17 million people — yes, the electorate is 17 million people - and the tribal conflicts are carried by a few thousand people who perhaps don’t have the national picture in their minds. It is possible that if an election doesn’t take place in one state or in one constituency it could be held separately at a later stage. The important thing is that the main election takes place.”

Bearing in mind that 70% of Sudanese citizens are illiterate, and al-Qaeda and its ilk are in Sudan, I think the Sudanese government deserves credit for Sudan not turning into a Somalia.

It seems to me that recent threats by Sudan's president to cut off the noses, necks, fingers, etc., of those who demand that elections be delayed, are figures of speech. I can think of a few strange phrases used by Westerners that might seem threatening when translated into Arabic.

Here in England, a general election is scheduled for May 6. I live in an area where the party I shall be voting for could never win. But it does not discourage me from voting.

Many brave people have given their lives for our freedom to vote. Boycotting elections or abstaining from voting is an insult to those who fought for, and died for, our right to vote.

Talking about strange phrases, here's one that springs to mind when I think of Sudanese rebels who refuse to face elections: "Sh*t or get off the pot".

EU considers withdrawing Darfur poll observers
From Reuters by Andrew Heavens Wed Apr 7, 2010 9:43am GMT - excerpt:

(EL-FASHER, Sudan) - The European Union said on Wednesday said it was considering withdrawing its election observers from Sudan's Darfur region over fears for their safety and restrictions on their work. [...]

"We are considering withdrawing the observers (from Darfur)," said Veronique De Keyser, who heads the EU's election mission in Sudan. "The safety of some of the observers in some remote parts of the country is a very big concern for me. I am also concerned about our ability to observe."

"In some parts of Darfur the violence is terrible. The humanitarians cannot access this area. And if aid cannot access, we cannot access," she told reporters as she flew into el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, to meet her six-strong team in the remote western region.

"We can only have a very partial view, so how can we observe properly in Darfur? The credibility of the mission is at stake. People have been asking how can you observe in Darfur, and this is a question I have to answer."

De Keyser said she was particularly worried after Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to expel international observers who pushed for a delay in the ballot. Bashir has threatened to cut off their fingers and tongues.

"You don't usually treat international observers you have invited like that. ... It doesn't reflect the traditional hospitality of the Arab world," she said. [...]

South Sudan's main party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, pulled out of elections in most north Sudan states on Tuesday, citing widespread fraud in the build up to the vote and the insecurity in Darfur.

Other small opposition parties have followed suit but the large Umma party on Wednesday was still discussing how far to follow suit.

De Keyser said it was too early to judge the impact of the withdrawals on the credibility of the elections.

Sudan Journalists Lament Lack of Civic Education in Up-coming Polls
Voice of America - Wednesday 07 April 2010
Manyang Mayum, a journalist with The Sudan Tribune denied reports that the elections could be postponed, saying that “if the election is pushed back, it will affect the referendum and hence the chances of secession.” Al-Bashir sent just such a message during a recent campaign stop.

EU election monitors pull out of Darfur: AFP reporter
EUbusiness.com 07 April 2010, 18:32 CET
(KHARTOUM) - European Union monitors stationed in the western Sudanese region of Darfur left the war-torn region on Wednesday ahead of Sunday's elections, said an AFP reporter travelling with them. "I have decided to go back with all the team of six observers that were still in Darfur," EU head of mission Veronique de Keyser told reporters on the plane.

Former Clinton and Bush officials war-game cyberattack (originating from the Sudan!)

War game simulates cyberattack



Photo: A mock nat'l security team led by Michael Chertoff wrestles with questions a real-life Cabinet might face. Photo: AP

Former officials war-game cyberattack
From Politico.com by JEN DIMASCIO
Tuesday, 16 February 2010, 5:41 PM EST:

Could a terrorist organization wage a crippling cyberattack that would take down telecommunications networks, disable the Internet and disrupt the nation’s power grid?

Quite possibly, concluded the group of former Clinton and Bush administration officials who engaged Tuesday in a war game designed to simulate how the government would respond to such an attack.

Sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center and held at a Washington hotel, “Cyber Shockwave” was the kind of classified “table top exercise” often used by national security agencies. Its scenario: A cyberattack originating from the Sudan spreads first through an NCAA basketball tournament cell-phone application. The attack spreads virally through the nation’s cell phones, takes out land lines and zaps the Internet.

The mock national security team, led by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, wrestled with the kind of questions a real-life Cabinet might face in such a catastrophe. As the team debated the legal authorities available to the president and what to tell the public, its ability to reach the populace was rapidly diminishing.

More and more telephones and computer networks — including the stock exchange and air traffic controls shut down — and as panelists wondered whether this was indeed an act of war, improvised explosive device attacks took out power grids in the eastern United States.

But the other complicating factor in the computer-based attack was the government’s inability to pinpoint the culprit. Even though the mock defense secretary pledged that U.S. Cyber Command could retaliate, the question remained — against whom? And how, when the government’s response plans are largely defined in the context of Cold War nuclear politics and don’t quite seem to fit this threat.

John Negroponte, the former director of national intelligence who had the role of secretary of state, said the scenario was certainly realistic and that with the information provided during the game, the culprit was not likely to be a nation-state. “I would put my money on a terrorist group,” Negroponte said.

In the role of counselor to the president, Joe Lockhart, White House press secretary in the Clinton administration, urged the panel to get the president to call the incident an act of war, bring congressional leaders to the White House and to act broadly and aggressively to stop the spread of outages.

The way out for the president seemed to be to take control, federalize the National Guard with the help of Congress and to ask for forgiveness of any potential trampling of civil rights later on.

The exercise illuminated some of the problems in dealing with issues of cybersecurity, especially because it’s difficult to get the government to change in the absence of a crisis. Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, acting as attorney general, pointed out the legal problems with using broad presidential authority to force energy or communications companies to act on the public’s behalf or mobilizing the military to take charge in an epic disaster.

Gorelick said President Barack Obama should be asking Congress now for ways to alleviate the policy problems that tie the government’s hands during crises.

So, who might be planning such an attack, one that the panel agreed was plausible? Possibly criminal networks, and perhaps Al Qaeda.

“We don’t understand their capabilities,” said John McLaughlin, the former acting director of the CIA and DNI-for-a-day. “We just don’t know the extent to which they could do something like this.”

But retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, the event’s defense secretary, hedged on the Al Qaeda question. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

Al-Shabab: Somali group with Al-Qaeda ties threatens Israel, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya

A militant Islamic group associated with al Qaeda has threatened to attack Israel, far from its normal base of operations in Somalia. CNN writes that Al-Shabab, which is fighting to control the east African country, accused Israel of “starting to destroy” the Al Aqsa mosque, where standoffs have recently been taking place between Israeli police and Palestinians.

The mosque is part of the complex that Jews called the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram al-Sharif. The group also threatened other African nations on Friday, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

Source: Afrik.com Monday 2 November 2009 - Somalia: Somali group with Al-Qaeda ties threatens Israel, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya
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(AFP photo) This still image provided by SITE, an organization which monitors Islamist websites, from a video entitled 'At Your Service Osama' released 20 Sep 2009, shows Abu Mansur al-Amriki (R) teaching mujahedeen small unit tactics.

Source: Voice of America report by Alisha Ryu (Nairobi) 27 October 2009 - Uganda Tightens Security Following Al-Shabab Threat

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has threatened to target Chinese workers in Africa

Here is some worrying news from the Telegraph yesterday.  Al-Qaeda's North African wing has threatened to target Chinese workers in Africa in revenge for the deaths of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, according to a risk analysis company. Excerpt:

The threat came in the wake of race riots in far West China which claimed the lives of at least 136 Han Chinese and 46 Uighurs.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said it would target the 50,000 Chinese who are working in Algeria and launch attacks against other Chinese projects in Northern Africa, said Stirling Assynt, which is based in London.

"This threat should be taken seriously," it said, adding that three weeks ago the group had ambushed a convoy of Algerian security forces who were protecting Chinese engineers, killing 24 Algerians. "Future attacks of this kind are likely to target security forces and Chinese engineers alike."

China has repeatedly linked Uighur separatist groups to Al-Qaeda, but this is the first time that the terrorist network has made a direct threat against China or its overseas projects.

Full story: Telegraph by Malcolm Moore in Shanghai, Tuesday, 14 Jul 2009 - Al-Qaeda vows revenge on China over Uighur deaths.

Here is an excerpt fom National Post, Canada, Tuesday, 14 July 2009 by Aileen McCabe, Asia Correspondent, Canwest News Service:
Al-Qaeda threatens China

AQM's sudden interest in defending Uighurs comes after a week of near indifference to their plight by the Islamic world. The sole exception was Turkey, where public opinion prompted the government into a quick defence of its ethnic blood brothers.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was particularly outspoken.

"The incidents in China are a genocide," he said. "There's no point in interpreting this otherwise."

On Tuesday, the official China Daily called on Erdogan "to take back his remarks."

P.S.  Over the past month or so this site Sudan Watch has received no visits from China which is most unusual.  For years Sudan Watch received several visits daily from China but ever since Google access in China was disrupted, all visits have ceased.  If you are reading this in China or know of Google-Blogger blogspots being blocked in China, please share and say hi in the comments or by email.  Thanks.

UPDATE: China is back on the ball. An hour after posting the above, Sudan Watch had a visit from China! Yay!

Beheaded Sudan editor is buried

The state-owned Sudan Vision newspaper was printed in black and white out of respect for Mr Taha's funeral, reports Reuters. Full story BBC 7 Sep 2006.

Drima of The Sudanese Thinker, writes:

"This is probably the first time in the history of Sudan something like this happens. The man was kidnapped from his house and found later with his head next to his body. That's murder Iraqi al-Qaeda style."

Read more at Iraq Has Arrived.

Blogging Drima, The Sudanese Thinker at the UN: Where are the educated political parties that should be governing Sudan?

Aug 1, 2006 blog entry by Sudanese blogger Drima of The Sudanese Thinker - excerpt:

"Rape & Murder To Enforce Peace!

Those are the strategies being employed to enforce the peace deal by the SLA rebels who signed the peace deal. Minnawi denies those crimes happened. My foot! It's a known fact that rebels participated in many of the atrocities committed before. I'm sick of this conflict being portrayed by the media as "ooh evil Arabs VS poor Africans, Africans need UN troops' help to fight evil Arabs".

Current regime and Bashir = ex-rebels

Salva Kiir and SPLM = ex-rebels

Now Minnawi as Vice President = ex-rebel

We're being ruled by freaking ex-rebels. Ex-Rebels who killed and murdered to get to where they are today. Where are the educated political parties that should be governing?"

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DRIMA THE SUDANESE THINKER AT THE UN

Few individuals have the potential to make a big difference to the lives of millions of impoverished people. I believe Drima is one of the gifted few and hope he ends up in politics. His intelligence, humanity, humility and friendly sense of humour would make him a fun politician and a great joiner of people. John Garang was U.S. educated. Kofi Annan started at Harvard. Hopefully, I'll live long enough to see the day when Drima is seated in a real position of power at the UN.



Excerpt from recent blog entry by Drima (not his real name) pictured here, above and below, in photos he blogged during his recent travels across the U.S. that included a visit to the UN's HQ in New York:

"I've got 2 more years to graduate from university. I'll be 21 that time. I'll work for a while to get some experience and after that I truly hope to do my postgraduate studies in either Canada or America. I aim to get accepted in Syracuse, Princeton, Harvard or maybe Ottawa's Carlton. Big dreams for a small man huh? I always like to tell people something. Either I'm too small for my dreams and they're not really that big or I really am very big but my dreams are just way bigger. Time will tell. Until then, I'll always keep dreaming and thinking. That's why I am Drima, The Sudanese Thinker."

THANK YOU AMERICA

Excerpt from July 21 2006 blog entry by Drima re his recent trip to the USA:

"Thank you America for giving me such a good time. I'm glad my visa was approved and that it gave me the chance to witness this great country for myself. I truly loved and enjoyed my stay here. A big thank you too to all the wonderful people I've met for being so hospitable and friendly. Please be sure that I'm not saying this for "sucking up" purposes. I really do mean what I say. You people really aren't bad at all and you certainly don't deserve the "infidel" label. Thanks again and peace out. I leave back to Malaysia today."

REINFORCE THE AFRICAN UNION

Excerpt from July 29 2006 blog entry by Drima re Bashir: Darfur Would Be UN Troops' Graveyard:

"If the UN wants to freaking help then they should just reinforce the AU troops. Why is it so difficult for them to understand that?"

Yes Drima, why indeed? Pressure on US President GW Bush from misguided activists, I suspect. Media attention and pressure sure helps political activists, donors and aid agencies. Northern Uganda and DR Congo, where far worse things are happening, attract nowhere near the same amount of limelight, compassion, assistance, attention or funding.

DARFUR + UN TROOPS + AL QAEDA = ONE BIG ASS GIGANTIC DISASTER

Excerpt from July 31, 2006 blog entry by Drima re SaveDarfur.org Pushing For UN Troops:

"Okay so previously I've talked about how I appreciate Save Darfur's great job in bringing Darfur to the attention of the American public and the world but NOW I don't really think I like THIS. They're organizing a concert with the aim of pushing for UN troops to be sent to Darfur. I've explained before in a simple and straight forward way why I believe the UN troops won't improve the situation. There is strong opposition to UN troops in Sudan and it's growing more by the day. Even Darfur tribal leaders are opposed to UN troops. I'll say it again only with some updates.

Darfur previously = Disaster

Darfur now = STILL a disaster but to a lesser extent

Darfur + UN troops = Bigger disaster

Darfur + AU troops reinforced by UN & NATO = HUGE improvements.

Darfur + UN troops + Al Qaeda = One big ass GIGANTIC Disaster !!!

People, pleeeeeeeeeeease tell me you get it. How can I make it simpler than this to understand? Pleeeeeeeease tell me you understand when I say that UN troops will NOT make things more humanitarian for the people of Darfur. [edit]

I would not mind the UN troops if

1- there was no local opposition to them
2- I was sure Al-Qaeda isn't serious

However that's not the case... SO... For the MILLIONTH time... Reinforce the damn AU troops and keep your freaking UN troops AWAY! That's the BEST solution. Thank you for your kind/"kind" intentions but UN troops will just contribute more to the damn problem. As for the Sudanese government... Well, Sudanese people all over the world... It's time to start a freaking revolution! Foreign meddling NOT welcome. It just complicates things. Shias VS Sunnis in Iraq anyone?

Grrr... I'm seriously thinking about starting a campaign or a petition to convince people UN troops are not a good idea but that reinforcing the AU troops with NATO and UN is. I REALLY REALLY AM!!!"

Warm thanks to Drima for all the great blog entries. I'd support any campaign or petition that backs the African Union and its mission and peacekeepers in the Sudan. All peacekeepers deserve a medal. Here's wishing Drima all the best in the future. And thanks for all the laughs!

Postscript: Copy of opener at The Sudanese Thinker:

I'm Drima and I'm a pro-democracy, anti-communist, caring capitalist, HUGE fan of American pop culture (Friends anyone?), grateful consumer of Western products (Danish cheese anyone?), NOT a fan of double standards within America's foreign policy, NOT a fan of Islamic fundamentalism, strong believer in the notion "the pen is mightier than the sword", independent thinking kind of guy seeking to expand his mind by engaging in productive, open-minded and peaceful discussions. Hello!