'TERRORISM: THE SOVIET CONNECTION'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 18, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: December 29, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6
HUMAN EVENTS
PAW __-1_5 - 29 December 1985
Ray Cline and Yonah Alexander
have written an informative' book
detailing hard evidence that the
Kremlin supports and trains various
international terrorist groups, especial-
ly the Palestine Liberation Organi-
zation (PLO).
Within the span of a short volume,
the authors- reproduce and discuss- a
selection of captured PLO documents
which are - concrete. evidence that
various PLO factions receive training
- terrorist as well as conventional mili-
tary - at camps in the Soviet Union
and other Eastern European satellite.,
nations.
The documents-along--with tons.of.
military hardware - were captured by
the advancing Israeli army.in Lebanon
in 1982. The authors also show-that
"The PLO has also served as a trans-
mission heat for the export of KGB ter-
rorist techniques-to other regions and
hence constitutes an essential element
in Soviet regional and global strategy.',',
The authors', evidence comes from
many sources. In addition to the:cap-
lured PLO -papers, Cline and`;Alex-
anderrely on terrorist confessions.and
reliable -newspaper stories on terrorist
activities reported in European and
Middle Eastern newspapers
Both authors have impressive
credentials :to analyze the evidence-of
the Soviet support and training of inter
national terrorism
Ray Cline has served-.as the deputy:
director 'of intelligence at the Central
Intelligence Agency.. He is now pro
fessor of international. relations at
Georgetown University, and also func-.
tions as a senior associate-at, the
school's Center for Strategic and Inter-
national Studies (CSIS). ; J
Yonah Alexander is a senior resear-
cher at-the CSIS; he is also-professor
and director of the Institute for Studies
.in International Terrorism at the State
University of New York. Alexander has
written extensively and published
monographs on the subject of ter-
rorism.
The chief merit of the'book for.-
the serious student of international
affairs, and those wishing to learn
more about a subject the liberal
media studiously ignore, is that it
accumulates in one concise and
lucidly written volume a damning.-
indictment . that terrorism is a
calculated instrument of Soviet
foreign policy its roots going
back to the early history of the
Communist state.
The Appendix- to - Terrorism:: The
Soviet Connect-ion includes 17 docu-
ments showing -Soviet military - intel-
ligence's links with the PLO. These
documents include graduation certifi
cates awarded to PLO operatives for
.
military training in the USSR, Hungary
For -example, ' ther a is a certificate
:awarded to a - PLO captain by `-`The
Ministery of Defense, USSR," . for
completing the, course'-at -Vystrel
Academy.
Cline and Alexander: insist --that {
'Thousands of PLO. members have
been trained by -Soviet and satellite
instructors.. in staff and command
courses, as Well as -a variety of profes-
-'sional subjects ,-such -as- communi- .
cations,- electronics, engineering, ar- !
tillery, pilot -.training;- biological -. and
chemical- warfare, and military-:
weapons :maintain ence.'.'
The conventional warfare instruction-
-also includes "the preperation of elec-
trical. charges, "the production of_incen
diary devices. and the methods ofex-
ploding metals,, and destructing
bridges."
-And all .this to what end? Is it merely
the Soviet desire to help the PLO?The j
authors argue that "The PLO is useful
i' in-its capacity as a resource center for
terrorist organizations; seeking. to
subvert non-Communist regimes every-
where."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6
As., an example,-- the :authors
reproduce a translated document titled
"Relations of Palestinian Terrorist
Groups with the `Front for the Liber-
ation of the Central Arab Desert.'
The document reads: "The secret ac-
tivity of the revolution, deep in Mali
territory, continued. The revolution
organized a widespread underground
movement by recruiting masses of peo-
ple, ideologically guiding them, and by
the establishment of a monetary fund."
But helping Islamic Socialists in Mali
is not the only terrorist support activity
the PLO engages in.
The rabidly pro-Moscow faction of
the PLO - the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) -
maintained relations with the Argen-
tine Workers party, the Revolutionary
.-Front .for ::the?.Restoration ---of:.East
Timor' s Independence,- and the Popu-
lar.Front for the Liberation of Eritrea,
the. PLO -documents reveal: ,..During
1980,_ the, PFLP .. hosted.,a ,. delegation
from the Chilean Communist party and
.the--Workers and.: Farmers-.party in
Chile,-according to-the documents cap-.
. tured by .,the Israelis:,
The Kremlin-PLO cooperation goes
beyond :various PLO ,.factions main-
taining fraternal relations with revolu-
tionary movements thioughout the
-world, the?,authors;, show:: Cline and
Alexandee~rr `:'relate-several; incidents
where PLO factions worked as ari-extra
arm of the Soviet intelligence-services.
In 1979 a wide-ranging Soviet-intel-
-nligence network-.was-reported-to: exist
-in Pakistan ;' aided- :by Palestinian: ter-
roristss=The .Soviet-.ambassador. to
Pakistan,, Sarerar A. Azimov =who was
formerly: stationed:`in Beirut;; was
reportedly in-charge of the operation,
and he used -the:PLO. ties hehad..Inade
`-during: -his, stay -:;in :Lebanon,'!, the
authors report. And they say.that the
PLO has assisted the Soviet.KGB "for
expanding covert PLO activity among
the Palestinian. communities in Saudi
Arabia, .Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates." . _
The PLO service to the Kremlin
-does not stop with the pro- -
Moscow factions working in close
cooperation with Moscow..
Cline and Alexander assert that "The
PLO trained some 10,000 terrorists
from all regions of the world- in its
camps in Lebanon, Syria, - Algeria,
Iraq, Libya .and South Yemen." And
the statistics are stupendous. "From
January 1980 through June 1981 alone, j
2,250 foreign terrorists from 28 coun-
tries in Europe, Latin America, Asia
and Africa participated in courses.of
one to four months' duration."
In addition to serving as the
"transmission belt" for the Soviet
KGB, "The PLO, has served as a con-
duit for Soviet arms transactions with
terrorist movements throughout the
world," say the authors. .
The Marxist-Leninist PLO factions
- the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine and the Democratic Front
for the Liberation'-of Palestine have'
maintained ..operational.,. ties- with or
train thi West German Red Army Fac
tion, the-Japanese Red Army,,Basque
separatists; .Turkish-Armenian terror=
fists, the Irish Republican-Army; Argen-.-
tinian .Monteneros,.the'Brazil_ian Van-
guarda, and extremist groups from the
Philippines, Cline and Alexander reveal.
In short, -the PLO factions are at the
center- -of the international terrorist
movements. And the PLO "outreach"
reaches into Central America.. `-`An
extensive PLO training and aid mission
was . virtually integrated- into.. the
Nicaraguan army framework with PLO
instructors teaching the -operation of
Soviet equipment," Cline and Alex-'
ander point out.,
Terrorist-, groups receiving PLO.
assistance reciprocate. The authors say:
that during the military clash between
PLO fighters and the Jordanian army
in 1970, "the Sandinistas fought with
.the PLO :.against King- Hussein's
troops. '. -:: : - _
Other 'examples of the PLO
"outreach'.' make disturbing; reading..
The authors write that "A journal
found in a PLO command post in Tyre
relates .. ties with terrorist groups in
.Malawi, South Africa, El Salvador,
Haiti and Turkey.".
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6 3
In another example, a collection of
monthly reports recovered by the
Israeli army in Lebanon details the
Popular Front (PFLP)..contacts with
the Soviet Union, Eastern European
satellite .regimes, Cuba and. Yugoslavia
as well as "with leftist organizations. in
Chile,-Japa; Cyprus, Denmark, Tur-
key, Greece, Spain and..Sri-Lanka."
The blast country, is very much in the
news these days as the. violent acts of.:
.Tamil separatists have proliferated
What emerges from the book Ter-
rorism: The. Soviet- Connection is a pic-
ture of the PLO . - especially its -pros
Moscow= fictions - which continually
. and relentlessly acts as Moscow's -sur-
rogate in: assisting, training and-coordi-
nating activities with terrorist, groups in
every country where the Kremlin feels it
can exacerbate existing cultural, social
and economic disequilibriums. -
In a short concluding chapter, Cline. .
and Alexander argue that the .United
States strategically counter "expansion-
ist `liberation'. moves " by-Communist-
totalitarian states wherever they are in
.progress...
And the authors recommend that the
United -States use both-conventional
and military force and needed covert-
action intelligence work to counter
"Soviet-sponsored forward thrusts."
Precisely how to do all this,:the authors
refrain from pointing out - perhaps
out of fear the ensuing controversy
would detract from the merits of the
book..
In the preface,Ray Cline notes, "We
have attempted to provide a badly
needed public account of a systematic
political and moral challenge to the way
of life in the-United States and other
pluralist societies." In this the authors
have succeeded excep..Gonally well.
Cline adds: "In my opinion, nothing
quite so informative is available outside
the restricted intelligence files of
governments, and perhaps not even
there." a
Mr. Salim is a Washington,-D.C.-based free-
lance writer specializing in foreign affairs.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/18: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740007-6