TERRORISM REVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87T00434R000300270021-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: February 7, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

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The Euroterrorist Front: Moving Beyond Rhetoric
For years, various European leftwing 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 be paying little more than lipservice to
this goal. In the past few months, however, there have been growing indications
that at least three of these groups-the West 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 against NATO.
The offensive seems to have begun late last summer with AD attacks in Paris on
the Atlantic Institute, the Western European Union, and the European Space
Agency-all of them 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.
were carried out in solidarity with them. In Portugal, the Popular Forces of 25 25X1
April (FP-25) fired several mortar rounds at NATO-related facilities, while in
Spain, Basque Fatherland and Freedom (ETA) bombed a military pipeline. Even
in the Netherlands, hitherto largely apart from the terrorist scene, sympathizers
halted a train to demonstrate solidarity with the RAF. 25X1
ore than 30 imprisoned RAF members staged a hunger
strike, while dozens of bombing attacks against targets associated with NATO
pipeline system at six points. In West Germany,
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In December the pace picked up. In Belgium, the CCC bombed the NATO
In 1985 the offensive continued in Belgium with a CCC bombing of a US military
facility. In West Germany, there were more RAF bombings, including one in
which one of the perpetrators was killed and the other seriously injured, as well as
the assassination of industrialist Dr. Ernst Zimmermann. In France, Action
Directe assassinated senior Defense Ministry official Gen. Rene Audran, and AD
prisoners began a hunger strike in sympathy with the RAF prisoners. In Portugal,
FP-25 lobbed some mortar rounds at NATO vessels in Lisbon harbor and bombed
automobiles belonging to West German servicemen. In the Netherlands, the
Northern Terror Front, a hitherto unknown group, bombed a police station (saying
the police were "slaves of imperialism") and a Defense Ministry facility. In
Greece, another new group using a name-the National Front-formerly
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G1 TR 85-003
7 February 1985
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associated with rightwing Greek terrorists. claimed credit for setting off a bomb in
a bar crowded with US servicemen, wounding at least 78 persons.
Some-but not all-of the groups responsible for these incidents have indicated,
explicitly or implicitly, that their actions have been part of a mutual concerted
effort-in effect constituting a multinational campaign.
The Targets. The nearly exclusive focus on NATO-related targets is a novel
feature of this campaign. Hitherto, Action Directe had tended to concentrate on
indigenous French targets, FP-25 on Portuguese targets, ETA on Spanish targets,
and so on. Even the RAF in the past directed most of its attacks against indigenous
West German targets.
The Timing. It seems very unlikely that so many leftwing 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 Action Directe
to join the campaign. But many of these attacks required considerable planning
and preparations that almost certainly were set in motion well before the campaign
began.
The Tactics. In general, the groups have used similar tactics. Most 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 Western Europe. The AD assassination
was accomplished with a handgun; it was a tactic unusual for Action Directe but
common for the RAF. The use by FP-25 of a mortar, on the other hand, was
unique.
The Talk. 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
Action Directe, for example, issued a joint communique declaring war on the
"imperialist" system. The CCC asserted that two of their attacks in Belgium were
to demonstrate solidarity with the RAF. The RAF operatives who murdered
Doctor Zimmermann dedicated their act to the memory of a Provisional IRA
terrorist who had died in a hunger strike. Action Directe dedicated its
assassination of General Audran to the memory of an RAF 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 RAF or any Euroterrorist front-
although it did threaten to attack facilities associated with NATO. Neither FP-25
nor the ETA indicated their attacks were part of any international campaign;
indeed, ETA declared it was targeting the Spanish military. The National Front
tied its action to displeasure over US policy with regard to Cyprus.
The Ties.
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The hunger strike of the RAF prisoners appears to have been the signal for the
currently intense level of anti-NATO terrorism in Europe. But as of early
February the strike was nearly over. The fasting prisoners probably always
recognized that their strike would not achieve its objectives of persuading the West
German Government to put them all together and treat them like prisoners of war.
Most of the prisoners are now accepting food. In contrast to previous fears,
probably none of them will starve themselves to death.
Conceivably, without the hunger strike as a unifying and stimulating factor, the
current terrorist campaign might gradually just peter out. This seems unlikely,
however. Indeed, the anti-NATO terrorist campaign seems instead to be
broadening and increasing in intensity
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France
Spain
Highlights
Faction, which has previously attacked Americans in Paris.
US Embassy and Personnel Under Possible Surveillance by Terrorists
The US Embassy in Paris reports that the assistant naval attache and his family
may have been under surveillance by persons appearing to be of Middle Eastern
and European origins. On 4 January a European woman gained access to the
attache's residence through misrepresentation. Later that day a man of evident
Middle Eastern extraction took pictures of the attache's son. On 20 January the
attache and his wife were followed by a man, apparently of European origin. On
the same day, a US Embassy guard reported that persons with Middle Eastern
features photographed the Embassy. In view of the current anti-NATO terrorist
offensive, these activities might have been in preparation for an operation by
Action Directe, perhaps in conjunction with the Red Army Faction. The
involvement of persons of apparent Middle Eastern origin, however, suggests an
operation by the virulently anti-American Lebanese Armed Revolutionary
Key Indicators
support of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. The caller said that more such
bombings would occur soon in places which Americans and Greeks frequent.
"National Front" Promises Repetition of Bar Bombing
On 2 February in Glyfada, a seaside suburb of Athens about 3 kilometers from the
US-operated Hellenikon Airbase, a large homemade time bomb exploded in a
crowded bar, injuring 78 persons, including 59 Americans, but miraculously
killing no one. A swarthy man who spoke broken Greek was believed to have left
the bomb in the bar earlier in the evening. In a telephone call to an Athens
newspaper, an anonymous spokesman claimed credit for the act in the name of an
unknown organization, the "National Front," indicating it was in reprisal for US
New Accord for Basque Area May Isolate ETA
A broad legislative accord reached on 30 January between the Basque regional
government (and by implication the Basque Nationalist Party) and the Basque
Socialist Party (representing the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and by
implication the central government) enjoys widespread popular support, although
its vague provisions may be difficult to implement. The watershed agreement may
eventually lead to a lessening of political violence in the Basque region by drying
up support for ETA and other radical groups. Over the short run, however, ETA's
opposition is likely to lead to more, rather than less, terrorism. Among the points
on which agreement was reached were the following:
5 Secret
GI TR 85-003
7 February 1985
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? The Basque people accept that self-government for the region can be
satisfactorily achieved through the transfer of power to the Basque regional
government.
? There is no justification for the use of violence to gain political ends in a Spanish
political system based on freedom and individual liberties.
? Basque regional problems should be negotiated exclusively among the political
parties represented in the regional parliament and the Spanish state.
? The Basque regional government and the Basque Socialist Party agree to support
the "social reinsertion" of those who abandon armed political struggle.
? International relations, specifically with regard to terrorism, are the exclusive
responsibility of the Spanish state.
UNITA To Target Foreign Oil Companies
UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi announced in mid-January that UNITA would
begin to attack installations of foreign companies in northern Angola, specifically
including Gulf Oil (US), ELF-Aquitane (French), and Petrobras (Brazil). He said
the reason was that these companies had failed to protest the growing number of
executions of UNITA supporters by firing squad. A more likely reason would be
that the operations of these companies are the Angolan Government's chief source
of foreign exchange.
Chukaku-ha Announces Intention To Begin Targeting Personnel
In a recent article in its newspaper, the leftwing terrorist group Chukaku-ha
(Nucleus Faction) asserted it has "no choice but to shift its attacks from those
against facilities to attacks against facilities with people inside and then to attacks
against people."
The shift toward trying to harm personnel was signaled by the rocket attack on the
US Consulate General in Kobe on 1 January. At least one of the rockets contained
shrapnel. According to the article, "the advent of the rocket gun marks a
revolution in the weaponry we use to carry on our revolutionary struggle. With it
we can rain down a continuous barrage at will against our targets. The rocket gun
lends itself to everyday use and must definitely come to be employed that way."
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attack was part of the RAF's assault on NATO-associated targets.
Significant Developments
West Germany Red Army Faction Assassinates Industrialist
On 1 February two suspected RAF terrorists forced their way into the home of
Ernst Zimmermann, board chairman of Munich's Motoren and Turbinen Union
(MTU), tied him to a chair, and shot him in the head. He died 12 hours later.
Based on descriptions provided by his wife, West German authorities believe the
terrorists are RAF hardcore fugitive Werner Lotze and Barbara Meyer, a
newcomer to the group. The RAF claimed responsibility for the attack in the home
of Commando Patrick O'Hara, a Provisional IRA member who died in a hunger
strike in 1981. MTU makes engines for tanks and other military vehicles; thus the
France
country rather quickly followed suit.
Update on RAF Hunger Strike
As of 4 February, all but five RAF prisoners had withdrawn from their eight-
week-long hunger strike. The murder of West German industrialist Ernst
Zimmermann may have been the signal to end the strike, for right after he was
shot RAF leaders Christian Klar and Brigitte Mohnhaupt began taking food in
their Stuttgart prison. Most of the other RAF member imprisoned around the
who died in a confrontation with police in Nuernberg in 1978.
Action Directe Assassinates Defense Ministry Official
Gen. Rene Audran, the French Defense Ministry official in charge of international
arms sales, was assassinated by an unknown assailant outside his home on 25
January. The attacker emptied a .45 caliber automatic into his body, firing the last
two shots into his head as he lay on the pavement. Later, an anonymous telephone
caller claimed credit for the "execution" in the name of "Commando Elizabeth
Van Dyck of Action Directe." Van Dyck was a Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorist
solidarity with the incarcerated RAF hunger strikers in West Germany.
The slaying was further evidence of the new close association between Action
Directe and the RAF-even though some French police suspect the trigger person
may have been a member of the RAF rather than Action Directe. A week earlier,
to emphasize the establishment of the AD-RAF "anti-imperialist front," five
imprisoned members of Action Directe had begun their own hunger strike in
Police Sweep Uncovers ETA-M Base
In late January French police launched a raid against a base of the Military Wing
of Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA/M) in Anglet that led to the arrest of
eight ETA/M members, including two leaders of the group. The raid also led to
the discovery of a cache of arms (including a grenade-making machine, explosives,
3,000 meters of fuse, five carbines, four pistols, and a Soviet-made rocket-
propelled grenade), intelligence information on French installations in Spain, and a
list of high-ranking Spanish officials. The sweep, which marks a new tougher
French policy toward Basque terrorists, is likely to generate reprisals from ETA.
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while ignoring the shadowy Antiterrorist Liberation Group (GAL).
Iparretarrak Complains of French Favoritism
The small French Basque terrorist group Iparretarrak (Men of the North), angered
over the court sentences handed down to two of its members on 24 January, has
vowed "to pursue the armed struggle" to gain their release. The group claimed
responsibility for several recent bombing attacks against French police. The group
charged that the French courts are dealing out harsh sentences to Basque militants
delay.
Implementation of Preventive Detention Reform Law Delayed
On 23 January the Italian Parliament approved a measure which postpones full
implementation of the preventive detention reform law passed last summer. The
law limits the maximum duration of pretrial detention of criminal suspects as well
as posttrial detention of convicted suspects awaiting processing of their appeals. It
was to take full effect on 2 February, at which time the state would have had to
grant provisional liberty to many current detainees. Widespread concern about the
prospective release of up to 1,300 allegedly dangerous terrorist and criminal
suspects led Parliament to approve a nine-month delay. The Justice Minister
stated that the government intends to use the delay to complete the trials and
appeals of the terrorists, gangsters, and drug-trafficking suspects who would
otherwise have been eligible for release. Italy's overburdened and inefficient legal
system will be hard pressed, however, to process so many priority cases by the end
of November, and the authorities are therefore likely to seek an extension of the
all foreign bases from Portugal."
FP-25 Attacks NATO Targets Twice in Week
On 28 January the leftwing terrorist group Popular Forces of 25 April (FP-25)
launched a mortar attack at NATO warships anchored in Lisbon harbor. None of
the rounds hit anything but water. Three days later FP-25 bombs destroyed eight
cars and damaged other property belonging to West German Air Force personnel
at Beja Airbase. One woman was slightly injured. FP-25 issued a communique
claiming credit for both attacks, demanding that the airbase be closed, and
promising to use "all available means" to force the "unconditional withdrawal of
in Portugal.
FP-25 attacks on West German military targets are unprecedented, and their
occurrence amidst the anti-NATO campaign proceeding in other West European
countries suggests a degree of coordination or complicity, but nothing in the FP-25
statement indicates this was intended. In response to the latest wave of FP-25
violence, the Portuguese Government has decided to push new internal security
legislation through the parliament early in February. In particular, a new
intelligence service will be established to help the government cope with terrorism
Police Mount Annual Operation To Eradicate GRAPO
In a massive sweep that began on 19 January, Spanish police arrested 17 members
of the small urban terrorist group October First Antifascist Resistance Group
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(GRAPO), including four alleged leaders. Police also confiscated a large store of
arms, 16 safehouses, and money recently obtained through ransoms paid for
kidnaped victims.
While Spanish officials are confident that the operations will destroy GRAPO, the
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Lebanon
have been responsible.
Sunni Muslim Leader Blinded by Car Bomb
On 21 January in Sidon, Sunni Muslim community leader Mustafa Sa'ad was
blinded by a powerful car bomb that exploded outside his apartment. His daughter
later died of her injuries, and his wife lost an eye in the explosion that occurred
during a meeting with local Shia leaders; in all 29 persons were injured. Sa'ad has
been noted both for his refusal to cooperate with the Israelis and for his efforts to
defuse confessional violence in Sidon. His daughter's funeral was punctuated by
shouts of "national unity." Most Muslims immediately blamed Israel for the
attack, although there is no evidence of Israeli complicity, and any militia might
mosque; none of these bombs resulted in casualties.
New Wave of Bombings in Beirut
Between 9 and 19 January bombs exploded in Muslim West Beirut almost every
day, killing at least 19 persons and injuring at least 145. Among them was a car
bomb in the Shia neighborhood of Beir al-Abed that killed two and injured 12 on
18 January; an Amal explosives expert reportedly was trying to dismantle the
bomb when it went off. Amal claims it successfully defused two other bombs
earlier that day. To give an idea of the variety of the targets, during the evening of
19 January, bombs exploded near a civil defense office, an Iraqi bank, and a
Lethal Bomb at Sunni Mosque in Tripoli
On 1 February the Sunni mosque was packed with worshipers, many of them
followers of Shaykh Shaban, the hardline leader of the Islamic Unification
Movement. Shaban-who has fought with Syrian militias for control of Tripoli
and has links with Iran-was elsewhere at the time. The explosion killed 12
persons and injured more than 60. No one claimed responsibility.
]Peru More Common Graves Discovered
Three common graves containing 44 adult corpses were discovered in the southern
Emergency Zone, according to reports in Lima newspapers. Some of the corpses
showed signs of torture. Peasants living near one of the sites identified several of
the bodies as being those of persons who had disappeared after being detained by
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responsible.
Some 50 corpses were discovered in a mass grave in the same region last August,
and as many as 41 bodies in mass graves were uncovered there last October.
Government investigators reportedly have been trying to identify the victims but
have released no substantive information. The Maoist Sendero Luminoso
guerrillas and the government's counterterrorist forces have each been accused by
the other of committing the murders. The circumstances surrounding this most
recent find, however, lend weight to the accusation that government forces were
meters of damaged track.
Tamil Terrorists Blow Up Train
On 49 January Tamil terrorists set off a bomb on a Colombo-bound train 300
kilometers north of the capital, derailing the train and killing 28 soldiers and 11
civilian passengers. There is evidence that Tamils in the area were aware of the
plot, but none of them tipped off military authorities when 90 soldiers boarded the
train at its last stop. On 23 January Tamil separatist guerrillas attacked the
derailed train and burned 11 cars while work was under way to repair the 500
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