EUROPEAN TERRORIST CAMPAIGN: COOPERATION AGAINST NATO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 13, 2009
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 1, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
$ep'et
Enropeaa Terrorist Campaign:
Cooperatioa A~aiaat NATO
Typescript Memorandum
Secret
GI M 85-100365
February 1985
E ~' 0
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 . Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
European Terrorist Campaign: Cooperation Against NATO
Summary
There are growing indications that at least three leftwinq
European terrorist groups--the German Red Army Faction, the French
Action Directe, and the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells-- have
launched a coordinated terrorist offensive against NATO. The
campaign appears to be broadening in geographic scope and
increasing in intensity. While it is possible that the current
offensive will abate, the informal liaison arrangements that may
already have been created among these terrorist groups probably
would remain in effect, enhancing the groups' individual
capabilities and making it harder for authorities to defend
against them.
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
European Terrorist Campaign: Cooperation Against NATO ..
For years, various European leftwinq terrorist groups have
called for the establishment of an international united front
against "western Imperialism," and particularly against its most
powerful symbols, NATO and the American presence in Europe.
until recently, they appeared to by paying little more than lip
service to this goal. In the past few months, however, there
have been growing indications that at least three of these
groups--the t7est German Red Army Faction (RAF), the French group
Action Directe (AD), and the Belgian Communist Combatant Cells
(CCC)--may have launched a coordinated terrorist offensive
The Current Campaign
The offensive seems to have begun late last summer with AD
attacks in Paris on the Atlantic Institute, the ~7est European
Union, and the European,Space Agency--a11 targets that AD
communiques erroneously asserted are associated with NATO. Then
in October in Belgium, the CCC bombed several multinational firms
because of their connections with NATO military activities.
In December the pace picked up.
In Belgium, the CCC bombed the PLATO pipeline system at
six points.
In West Germany, the RAF and its supporters began a
long-planned offensive: more than 30 imprisoned RAF
members began a hunger strike, while dozens of bombing
attacks against targets associated with PIA TO were
carried out in solidarity with the hunger strikers.
In Portugal, the Popular Forces of 25 April (FP-25)
fired several mortar rounds at ~~ATO-related facilities.
In Spain, Basque Fatherland and Freedom (ETA) bombed a
military pipeline.
In the Netherlands, sympathizers halted a train to
demonstrate solidarity with the RA F.
In 1985 the offensive continued in Belgium with a CCC
bombing of a US military recreational facility. In ~~7est Germany,
the RAF undertook additional bombings and assassinated
industrialist Dr. Ernst Zimmerman. In France, Afl assassinated a
senior offical of the P~inistry of Defense, General Rene Audran,
and AD prisoners began a hunger strike in sympathy with the RAF
prisoners. In Portugal, FP-75 lobbed mortar rounds at PLATO
vessels in Lisbon harbor and bombed automobiles belonging to ~7est
German servicemen. In the Petherlands, the Northern Terror
Front, a hitherto unheard-of Group, bombed a police station and a
2.
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
defense ministry facility. In Greece, another apparently new
group, the Plational Front, claimed credit for setting off a bomb
in a bar crowded with US servicemen, wounding at least 78
persons. 25X1
Coordination
6~e fudge it extremely unlikely that so much anti-NATO
activity from so many quarters could have arisen spontaneously.
Horeover, many of the groups involved have provided both explicit
and implicit indications that their actions have been part of a
multinational effort. 25X1
o Targets. The nearly exclusive focus on NATO-related
targets is a striking feature of this campaign, one new
to most European groups. Hitherto, for example, AD had
usually concentrated on indigenous French targets, FP-25
on Portugese targets, and ETA on Spanish targets. Even
the FAF directed most of its attacks against indigenous
west German targets. 25X1
o Timing: It seems very unlikely that so many leftwinq
European terrorist groups would independently decide to
mount major anti-NATO campaigns at approximately the
same time. Some of the attacks may have been stimulated
by the publicity attending one or another of the major
terrorist incidents, and some may have been in response
to public exhortations by the RAF and AD to join the
campaign. Rut many of these operations required
considerable planning and preparations that almost
certainly were set in motion well before the attacks
began. 25X1
o Tactics. In general, the groups have used similar
tactics. host of the terrorist attacks have been
bombings, the majority directed against property rather
than people. In West Germany, Belgium, and France,
however, car bombings have been attempted. Hitherto
these had been rare in ~~estern Europe. The AD
assassination was accomplished with a handgun; it was a
tactic unusual for AD but common for the RAF. The use
by FP-25 of a mortar, on the other hand, was unique.
o Rhetoric. Several of the groups have made public
statements asserting that they were acting in concert
with other groups against a mutual enemy. The RAF and
AD, for example, issued a joint communique declaring war
on the "imperialist" system. The CCC asserted that two
of its attacks in Belgium were to demonstrate solidarity
with the RAF. The RAF operatives who murdered Doctor
Zimmerman dedicated their act to the memory of a
Provisional IRA terrorist who died in a hunger strike in
1981. AD dedicated its assassination of General Audran
3
SF?CRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
to the memory of an RA F_ martyr: AD prisoners in France
began their own hunger strike in sympathy with that of
the RAF prisoners in West Germany. On the other hand,
the Northern Terror Front did not tie its actions
explicitly to support for the RA F. or any European
terrorist front--although it did threaten to attack
facilities associated with rIATO. Neither FP-25 nor the
ETA have declared their attacks to be part of any
international campaign.
o Linkages. Several of the suspected leading members of
the CCC reportedly have associated with members or other
persons in close contact with both the RAF and AD. The
explosives used both in an AD car bombing in Paris and
an RAF car bombing attempt that' was foiled at
Oberammergau came from a batch of dynamite stolen from a
Belgian quarry last summer. Paris has long had the
reputation of serving as the locale for informal
contacts among members of many lef twing European
extremist groups--includincl AD, the RAF, ETA, and
Some European terrorist groups have not been active during
the current campaign. For example, neither the Red Brigades nor
other Italian terrorists have been involved--although there is
considerable evidence of longstanding contacts between AD and the
Red Brigades, among other Italian extremist groups. Likewise,
neither leftwing Turkish groups such as the Marxist-Leninist
Armed Propaganda unit (MLAPU) nor such historically anti-NATO
groups as the Greek Revolutionary Organization of 17 November or
the Spanish_October First Antifascist Resistance Group (CRAPO)
Nevertheless, the European terrorist front appears to he far
more than rhetoric. The evidence shows that some European
terrorist groups are now cooperating with each other to an
unprecedented degree. The arrangement seems to be more of a
cooperative liasion relationship than a formal merger or union.
The main participants appear to be the RAF, AD, and the CCC, with
the RAF playing the role of. senior partner. The rhetoric and the
targeting are typical of the RAF; moreover, the RAF would
probably reject a lesser role. AD probably was instrumental in
Outlook
The hunger strike of the RAF prisoners, which apparently was
the signal for the currently intense level of anti-NATO terrorism
in Europe, has ended. c?~hile this eliminates concern that the
death of any of the strikers might have generated a wave of even
more intense violence on the part of their supporters, it
nevertheless seems unlikely that the current terrorist campaign
will now end. Indeed, the anti-P1AT0 terrorist campaign seems to
be broadening and increasing in intensity. A major RAF operation
4
SECFET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
may he imminent--either in ~~est Germany or France, possibly in
conjunction with AD. Perhaps most likely is a spate of
assassinations or an operation to capture one or more hostages of
sufficient stature to induce the overnment to accept them in
trade for the prisoners. 25X1
Even if the current campaign abates, whatever liaison
arrangements that may have been created among the participants
probably will remain in effect until disrupted by police arrests
or, perhaps, by a falling out of some sort. Although their
former ideological differences seem to have largely evaporated,
we doubt these groups are ready to completely submerge their
national indentities, independence, and individuality in a formal
international terrorist organization or federation.
Nevertheless, even informal cooperation enhances their individual
capabilities and makes their more formidable adversaries.
5
SECRET
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13: CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4
I
{I
t
Secret
Secret
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/13 :CIA-RDP85T01058R000303880001-4