On May 27, the last week of the month, which is the annual commemoration day for the war dead of the United States, thousands upon thousands of Americans pay tribute to their ancestors who laid down their lives during the war, while more Americans make use of this long weekend to spend their holidays in a better way.
However, people did not feel happy at all on that day this year, because terrorism-attack alarms were sounded one louder than the other, the Al-Qaida network under bin Laden remains a threat. A piece of recent news said the remnants of bin Laden were breaking up the whole into parts and launching a big shift worldwide. The remnant forces of Qaida were moving from Afghanistan toward Pakistan, the Middle East, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, and were even infiltrating to Canada and certain European countries, hoping to find an appropriate time and targets for another world-shaking terrorist attack.
Worse still, the Report on the 2001 Global Terrorist Situation released by the US State Department on May 21 disclosed that over 1,000 "East Turkistan" elements who had received training in Afghanistan were sneaking into Chinese territory!
Omar Chooses His Successor, Laden Waits for the Next Attack
It is revealed that President Bush has been closely following the progress in the tracking down of Laden. The Pentagon submits a secret report to Bush almost every day, giving detailed descriptions of the trace and arrest of 27 key members of the Qaida network, which include the names, posts and the latest movements of these people. Among them eight persons had been shot dead, four were put in custody by the US military force, but there are 15 people who are still at large.
What must not be overlooked is that information about the Qaida network still keeps pouring in. It is divulged by AP on May 27 that top leaders of Taliban Omar and bin Laden are still alive, "Laden is waiting for the next large-scale attacks, by the time he will make his appearance"; Omar is presently supervising Taliban's reorganization, and he renamed Taliban as "Afghanistan Islamic State". Omar has issued the order to the effect that if he dies, his job should be taken over by the former Kandahar military area commander, a reason for this is that "we are now in the wartime".
30 Important Qaida Figures Are on Their Way to Britain
According to a report of the American Broadcasting Corp., the Qaida network held a secret "summit meeting" with Hamas of Palestine, Hizbollah or Lebanon Party of God and other extreme organizations in Lebanon this March, which was designed to strengthen cooperation so as to jointly cope with the United States, Britain and some other countries.
A former CIA official indicated that this signaled a dangerous new development, because these organizations had never entered into cooperation. A US senate official, Graham, also declared that the Islamic Djnihad body of Egypt might also participate in attacks on the United States. He said "Our enemies are not confined to Qaida network. There are also a number of mighty international terrorist organizations. Their strength is even greater than that of Qaida."
Besides Pakistan, Middle East countries that may become the destinations for the escape of Laden terrorist forces, Indonesia, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries may also be the places into which terrorists may slip. Not long ago, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines arrested dozens of suspects, including some Indonesians. They were charged with having links with Qaida network and with plotting explosion of the US Embassy in Singapore.
What's more dreadful is that the terrorists are infiltrating into Western countries. German news media unveiled on May 22 a letter from the International Criminal Police Organization to the German police. The letter says that according to the information collected by the International Criminal Police Organization and the European Criminal Police Organization two months ago, more than 30 Taliban elements and key Qaida figures are currently hiding themselves in Bulgaria, Austria, Slovak and Czech, and they are on their way to Britain. They hope to re-assemble in order to plot new actions.
On May 22, a UN official indicated that a UN fact-finding group was investigating the Qaida network which was suspected of converting assets into gold, jewelry and hard currency and then transferring their funds through the Internet. Experts point out the terrorists are using new channels and trying to evade sanctions, besides purchasing gold, diamond and various gemstones, they transfer funds by making use of the underground financial system of the Moslem world.
The UN fact-finding group is cooperating with other institutions, trying to stop members of the Qaida network and other terrorists from using the Internet to transfer their funds out, and other activities such as liaison, the exchange of information and search of logistic support. The fact-finding group will also investigate the Qaida network which likely raises funds through charitable institutions.
According to a resolution passed by the United Nations in January this year, by the end of March, a total of 144 countries had frozen US$100 million worth of funds possibly related to terrorists, most of which are related with bin Laden or the Qaida network.
1,000-plus "East Turkistan" Elements Trained in Afghanistan Plot to Sneak Back to China
What is noteworthy is that while the Qaida network is infiltrating toward various countries, its associated "East Turkistan" elements are attempting to worm their way into Chinese territory, The US Report on the 2001 Global Terrorism Situation discloses that a small number of "East Turkistan" elements once received training from the Qaida network and participated in war in Afghanistan, Now that the Qaida network is disunited as a heap of loose sand, these "East Turkistan" elements have begun to sneak into Chinese territory.
It is disclosed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry that around 1,000 "East Turkistan" elements once received military training in the Afghanistan-based camp of Laden. The "East Turkistan" force has all along gained support and training from the Laden clique and has been engaged in a series of terrorist activities in Xinjiang. Not long ago, US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in his open TV address, said that among Taliban's foreign soldiers, some were "East Turkistan" elements coming from China's Xinjiang and not a few of them had been captured by the United States.
Recent unconfirmed sources say that Pakistan has formally repatriated to the Chinese side some "East Turkistan" terrorists who had engaged in battles with the US troops in Afghanistan. On this issue, the Chinese government's stand has been consistent, and that is, it hopes that the parties concerned, after checking and verifying these people's identities as Chinese citizens, would turn them over to China.
Although the United States talks glibly about the global battle against terrorism, it seems like using "double standards" on China's anti-terrorism issue. At present, the United States announces that there are more than 30 international terrorist organizations, but "East Turkistan" so far has not been included into the list. For this, US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher declared: The United States pays close attention to terrorists inside China, as it does to terrorists in other places.
( June 10, 2002)
