FBI CITES BETTER INTELLIGENCE FOR TERRORISM'S DECLINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100080006-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 4, 2011
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: September 9, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/04: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100080006-9
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
9 September 1986
Th]WOR REPORT / JOHN WOLF
FBI Cites Better Intelligence for Terrotism's Decline
Citing improved intelligence as one of the reasons for a decline in domestic
terrorism, FBI Director William H.
Webster said recently that the princi-
ples and guidelines for curtailing terror
in this country can be applied on the
international stage.
Figures released by the FBI last
August tally seven terrorist incidents
for this country in 1985. Numbers indi-
cating the prevention of 23 such inci-
dents were also revealed. One hundred
acts of domestic terrorism occurred in
the United States in 1978 and 13 in
1984.
Webster's remarks, in a speech at
the American Bar Association (ABA)
convention last month, cited various
covert intelligence-gathering tech-
niques as contributing to the FBI's suc-
cess in stemming the tide of terrorism.
These clandestine methods include
the active use of informants, under-
cover agents and court-ordered elec-
Charles Allen, antiterrorism head
agency and others engaged in intelli-
ence operations had doubled the,
lyrical o rational resources
1984,
He said the CIA is working actively
"to penetrate terrorist networks,
mount operations to sow seeds of sus-
sicion among the cadres and among the
leaders" and identify new technical cap-
abilities.
Allen also mentioned that terrorist
incidents overseas had increased con-
siderably in recent years: from about
500 recorded incidents in the early
1980s to almost 800 in 1984 alone.
He said "softer, less protected tar-
gets" such as businesses, hotels and
restaurants were being hit by the ter-
rorists.
Libya Raid Cited as Deterrent
Allen, Attorney General Edwin
Meese III and a number of other
speakers at the ABA convention cited
April's U. S. air raid on Libya as a deter-
rent to terrorists. According to Allen,
state-supported terrorism - the vari-
ety backed by the communist bloc and
its allies - has decreased since
American warplanes hit Col. Moammar
Qaddafi's state.
The CIAs summary of terrorist inci-
dents was corroborated by an Israeli
study released Aug. 12. Issued by Tel
Aviv University's Jaffee Center for Stra-
tegic Studies, the paper - entitled
INTER 85 - said 639 people were
killed, 833 wounded, 125 kidnapped and
1,045 taken hostage in hijackings and
itThe number of
people killed in
1985 in terrorist
attacks worldwide
increased by 83
percent over the
previous year. 99
other attacks in 1985. This is an 8"
percent increase in the number of peo-
ple killed over the previous year, when
412 incidents occurred, the report said.
Ariel Merari, who headed the
INTER 85 survey, said: "Contrary to
some predictions, this raid [on Libya]
did not result, at least not so far, in a
counterwave of terrorism. We must
conclude, therefore, at least for the
time being, that the American retah-
atorv raid has been successful."
If U. S. anti-terrorist agents become
overly confident, however, the results
can be disastrous.
On Aug. 12, the eve of the Berlin
Wall's 25th anniversary, the U.S. diplo-
matic mission in the former German
capital city issued a state of alert. It
warned of a possible attack on American
companies or soldiers in West Berlin.
A day earlier, Togo's Interior Minis-
ter Kpotivi Tevi-Djidjogbe Lacle said his
country's security forces had thwarted
an international terrorist attack on the
U.S. Embassy in Lome, capital of the
former French colony in West Africa.
Lacle said two suitcases were inter-
cepted that had been loaded with explo-
sives, an automatic pistol and three
grenades. They had been sent from
Libya to its embassy in Cotonou, the
capital of neighboring Benin, and then
transshipped to Togo. The grenades,
Lacle said, were to have been thrown
into movie houses in the Togolese cap-
ital.
Allen told panelists at the ABA
meeting that sharing intelligence infor-
mation. with allies has increased the
CIA's ability to track terrorist oper-
ations, disrupt financial and supply lines
and pre-empt terrorist attacks.
An information exchange among
allies is the key ingredient of any anti-
terrorist campaign. Apparently, the
Togolese security forces were fur-
nished data that enabled them to confis-
cate the terrorist weaponry.
Lacle said Benin had made a positive
contribution in the arrest of nine people
in his country and that France and the
United States had also aided Togo in its
investigation.
The nine detainees, believed linked
to the Libyans, are currently being
interrogated by the Togolese, and it is
hoped that the information extracted
will be provided to American anti-
terrorist specialists.
This data may prove Qaddafi is still
determined to unleash terror against
Americans wherever they are easy to
get at.
Although Togo is a small and far-
away country, the ability of the United
States and its allies to check terrorism
in its capital is proof that anti-terrorist
intelligence is well honed.
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