Terrorism in the Middle East
Trends and Patterns in the War on
Terrorism
Robert W. Taylor, Ph.D.
Law Enforcement Sensitive
Terrorism in the Middle East
Methodology for Our Discussion
 Introduction and Understanding Terrorism in
General
 Understanding Islam in the Middle East
 Radical and Fundamental Islamic Philosophies
 Identify Trends and Patterns in Recent Bombings
and Activities
 Thoughts on the Future
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Defining Terrorism
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International terrorism
Transnational terrorism
Domestic terrorism
State terrorism
Terrorism vs. war
“Terrorism plays to emotion, not intellect”
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Know Your Adversary
“If you know the enemy and know yourself,
you need not fear the results of a hundred
battles. If you know yourself and not the
enemy, for every victory gained, you will
also suffer a defeat. If you know neither
yourself or the enemy, you succumb in
every battle”
Sun Tzu—The Art of War
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What Is Middle-Eastern Culture?
There in no single culture
embracing the entire Middle East -It is a complex and unique cultural
area
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What Is Middle-Eastern Culture?
 Depends on perspective
 To approach suspects, victims,
and witnesses in Middle-Eastern
communities
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National origin and politics
Religious orientation
Friendship networks and associations
Arab, Bedouin, Mede, Turk, Asian, Pakistani, Iranian,
North African, Sub-Saharan African?
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Middle East
Understanding Islam
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Prophet Mohammed
 Founder of Islam, born in Mecca
 Received revelations about God (Allah) from the
archangel Gabriel
 Wrote revelations in a series of verses and poems,
which later became the Quran (Koran)
 Driven from Mecca to Medina, where his following
grew
 Died in 632 and left growth of Islam to his followers
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Two Islamic Traditions:
Sunni and Shiite
 Sunni – “True Path of Allah” strongly associated with
Saudi Arabia… The majority of Muslims in the world
 Shiite – Leaders are descended from Mohammed
through Fatima (daughter) and Ali (cousin)– “Shi’at Ali”
Leaders are divinely inspired and infallible… Strongly
associated with Iran… Only about 10% of the Muslim
World
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Understand the Differences
Sunni vs. Shi`ite
 Sheik Omar Rahman
 Veiled Shi`ite woman
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Understand Islam
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NOT a violent religion
Cousin to Judaism and Christianity
Equalizes classes through love of God
Submission to the will of God
Muslim is one who submits
Understand the real meaning
of “jihad”
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Five Pillars of Islam
 Five Pillars of Islam are the framework of the
Muslim life
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Testimony of Faith (Shahada)
Daily Prayer (Selah)
Support of the Needy (Zakah)
Fasting during Ramadan (Sawm)
Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
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Pillar 1: Shahada
 The testimony of faith is saying
with conviction
 “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur
rasoolu Allah”
 “There is no true god but Allah,
and Muhammad is his Prophet”
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Pillar 2: Prayer (Selah)
 Muslims perform five prayers
a day
 Each prayer does not take more
than a few minutes
 Prayer in Islam is a direct link between the worshipper
and Allah
 In prayer, a person feels inner happiness, peace, and
comfort and that Allah is pleased with him or her
 Prayers are performed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon,
sunset, and night
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Pillar 3: Giving Zakah
 All things belong to Allah, and wealth is
therefore held by human beings in trust
 The original meaning of the word zakah is
both “purification” and “growth”
 Giving zakah means “giving a specified
percentage of certain properties to certain
classes of needy people” (tithe)
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Pillar 4: Fasting
 Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims
fast from dawn until sundown, abstaining from
food, drink, and sexual relations
 Fasting is regarded principally as a method of spiritual
self-purification
 By cutting one’s self off from worldly comforts, even for a
short time, a fasting person gains true sympathy with
those who go hungry, as well as achieves growth in his
or her spiritual life
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Pillar 5: Pilgrimage to Mecca
 The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca is an
obligation (once in a lifetime) for those who are
able to perform it
 About two million people go to Mecca each year from
every corner of the globe
 Hajj is performed in the twelfth month of the Islamic
calendar
 Male pilgrims wear special simple clothes that strip away
distinctions of class and culture so that all stand equal
before Allah
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Hajj
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Religious Fundamentalism in Islam:
The Purification Movements
Wahhabism—movement related to Saudi Arabia—
Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792).
 Reform movement that believes that absolutely
every tenant added to Islam after the third century
of the birth of Islam is corrupted.
 Keep the original rituals and practices of Islam.
 Foreign interests and modernity threaten this way
of life.
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Religious Fundamentalism in Islam:
The Purification Movements
The Muslim Brotherhood --- movement related to
Egypt and the “scholarly tradition” of Hasan al-Banna
(1906-1949), Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), Sheik Omar
Rahman, and Ayman al Zawahiri (Sunni).
 Indigenous political-religious movement against European
colonial powers that eroded Islamic culture.
 There is no middle ground – only good and evil.
 Implement a new Islamic order through “jihad” or “holy war”
primarily against corrupt Middle Eastern regimes
and now the West.
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Religious Fundamentalism in Islam:
The Purification Movements
Salafism – movement related to Egypt and the writings of
Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) and Rashid Rida
 Emphasizes the self-sufficiency and expansiveness of
Islam (much more tolerant than ancient Wahhabism)
 Modernity has value for Islam (hence, not necessarily antiWestern). Recognized the exploitation for oil.
 Today, a broad philosophy of intellectual and cultural
undertaking, usually not political.
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Religious Fundamentalism in Islam:
The Purification Movements
Jihadist Salafism – movement of the second generation
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Salafists, radicalized in the 1980s by the Soviet-Afghan War
Embraces a strict and literal interpretation of Islam
Violence (‘jihad’) is the instrument to drive out the West and
destroy corrupt Middle Eastern regimes
Charismatic leadership of Usama bin Laden
Al-Qaeda now morphing into Southeastern Asia with
Jemaah Islamiah and Turkey with IBDA/C
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Religious Fundamentalism in Islam:
The Purification Movements
Khomeinism—movement of Shi’a Islam as the
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supreme force in the Middle East
Non-secular, religion and government are the same
Led by Iran’s Revolutionary Council
Surging as a result of Iraqi War
Hizb’Allah is Iran
Greatly expanded drug (opium) and gun trafficking in
Turkish and Central Asian Regions
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Islamic Fundamentalism—Ideology
 No separation between church and state
 Secularism leads to the marginalization of religion
 Secularism and modernity are inseparable
 Leading to political and moral decay
 Secularism is direct threat to Muslim identity
 Only solution is to “Re-Islamasize” the Muslim
world
 Return to the ways of the old
 Common enemy is the West and ME governments
friendly to the West
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Fundamentalism in General
 Charismatic leaders
 Usama bin Laden, Abdul Rahman, Jim Jones, David Koresh
 Selective interpretation of scriptures and other
important writings
 Bible, Quoran, Old Revolutionary Writers
 Apocalyptic mission
 Misapplication of symbolic words
 Christian Patriot, constitutionalist, jihad
 God speaks to them directly, justifying violence
 Justifies the use violence due to loss of morality … save the world
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al Qaeda
Usama bin Laden
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al Qaeda Leadership
Usama bin Laden
?
Ayman Al-Zawahiri
?
Mohammed Atef
Dead
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al Qaeda
Usama bin Laden
Nairobi, Kenya, 1998
 Leadership: Usama bin Laden, in 1988
 Ideology: al Qaeda is a network of many different
fundamentalist organizations in diverse countries
 Remember the purification movements
 Common factors are the use of terrorism for the attainment of their
political goals and an agenda whose main priority is the overthrow of
the “heretic governments” and the establishment of Islamic
governments based on the rule of “Shariah”
 The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989), the fall of Russia, and the rise of
the Mujahadeen (Holy Warriors) and UBL
 August 1996—bin Laden issued a “declaration of war” against “the
Great Satan,” the United States
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al Qaeda
Usama bin Laden (continued)
 February 1998—bin Laden
stated, “If someone can kill an
American soldier, it is better than
wasting time on other matters”
 1998—bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania—killed 224
 2000—suicide bombing of USS Cole in Yemen—killed 17
sailors
 2001—suicide bombings at the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, and a United jet in Pennsylvania—killed 2,800+
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September 11, 2001
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Al Qaeda—New Threats
 Morphing into other groups and areas
 Active in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Europe
 Capitalizing on Islamic Fundamentalism
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Social and political crisis
Drawing on revolutionary religious leaders of the past
Linking with smaller Islamic Fundamentalist groups
Using regional networks to continue the fight
Commonality – Trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan
 Major target acquisition and event planning
 These people are at war!
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Fundamentalism in Southeast Asia
 Jemaah Islamiya
 Bali bombing—J. W. Marriott bombing in
Jakarta, active in the Philippines with al Qaeda
 Leadership under Abu Bakar Bashir, Khalid
Sheik Mohammad, Riduan Ismuddin (Hambali)
 Goal—establish Islamic state across Southeast
Asia
 Linked to Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(fighting a guerrilla war for 25 years in
Mindanao) (training camps)
 Poses significant new threat to Western
interests
 “Project Bojinka” and Ramzi Youseff (1995)
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Fundamentalism in Southeast Asia
 Abu Sayyaf
 Primarily in the Philippines
 Kidnapping, rape, prostitution, and drug
trafficking
 A bunch of thugs using Islamic Fundamentalism
as a cover
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Review of Recent Bombings
 London bombings (July 7, 2005) killed 55, wounded 700 in suicide
attacks on transit system; July 21 unsuccessful attacks (not suicidal)
 Sharm el-Sheikh Resort in Egypt (July 23, 2005) suicide attack killed 90
and wounded 240; linked to earlier attack on Taba Resort in October
2004 with 25 dead
 Madrid, Spain (March 11, 2004) suicide bombing of train station killed
190 people
 Istanbul, Turkey (November 15 and 20, 2003) suicide bombings of two
synagogues, a London-based bank, and the British Consulate killed 62
people
 Suicide attack Bali bombing in Indonesia (October 12, 2002) killed 202;
JW Marriott bombing
 Continued activities in Iraq
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Bali Bombing (October 12, 2002)
 Killed 202 people
 Directly linked to Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf (Philippines
and MILF)
 Funnel-bombing techniques
 Traded drugs for bomb materials and ammonium nitrate (fertilizer),
not C4
 2005—Abu Bakr Bashir charged in bombing (later overturned)
 Bashir trained in Afghanistan, member of Mujahadeen
(Riduan Ishmudden, aka Hambali, arrested in Thailand)
 Directly linked to Project Bojinka—January 1995?
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Istanbul Bombings (November 2003)
 Linked to IBDA/C (Great Eastern Islamic Fighters)
 Relatively small, unknown group that had tossed a few Molotov
cocktails
 Sunni radical leaders—jihadist salafist ideology
 Suicide truck bombings
 Used trucks packed with explosives (NH4NO3)
 Well-organized and internationally supplied (TNP suspects Iran)
 Suspect Baki Yigit trained in Afghanistan and met with UBL; had
been arrested for drug trafficking by the TNP
 18 people involved, including 2 women
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Spain Bombings (March 11, 2001)
 190 killed, over a thousand injured
 At least linked with another group(s): 12 Moroccans arrested—one
Moroccan suspect at large lived in Turkey and had previous
connections to al Qaeda and IBDA/C
 Similar explosive techniques as recently seen in London (multiple
attacks on trains)
 Large-scale attack, using multiple bombs and funneling
 Significant planning and multiple operatives
 The only Spaniard, Jose Suarez, traded hashish for at least part of
the explosives
 Linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Jordanian al Qaeda member from
Afghanistan camps)
 Linked to Hezb’ Allah (Iran) for funding
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London Bombings (July 7, 2005)
 Killed 55, wounded over 700
 Four total bombers; three different trains and one
double-decker bus
 Hassib Hussain, Mohammad Sadique Khan, Shehzar
Tanveer, and Haroon Rashid Aswat (all Pakistani)
 Khan in NYC in 1995, traveled extensively and Pakistani
 Aswat (suspected mastermind) met Bin Laden in
Afghanistan in 1995
 All were in Karachi, Pakistan, in July or April 2004
(suspected of drug trafficking from the Golden
Crescent)
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London Bombings (July 7, 2005) (continued)
 Hasib Hussain connected to Sheik Omar Bakri
Mohammad and al-Mahajroun in London (Pakistani with
deep Afghani roots)
 Mastermind fled to Egypt: Majdi al Nasher (chemist)
released by Egyptian authorities
 British official—“Same signature as the Madrid
bombings”: that means funnel bombings and ties to
drugs for trade for explosives
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London Bombing (July 21, 2005)
 Copycat attack
 7 arrested, including 4 East Africans from London
(Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia)
 Bombs failed; not the same substance or device types
as previous bombings
 Not suicidal attacks
 Probably more connected with internal London issues
than global terrorism
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Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt (July 23,
2005)
 Suicide bombing (truck driven into hotel, very similar to Istanbul
bombing; 90 dead, 240 injured in three separate attacks (two by
truck and one in a sack at a bus station)
 Two identified bombers—Mohammad Badran Hanafi from the
Tawhid and Jihad Group (old Salafi group linked to
Bin Laden through the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood) and
Mohammad Saleh Fleifel (Pakistani with forged passports)
 Connected to Taba Resort bombing in October 2004—25 dead;
Suleiman Fleifal was one of two suicide bombers
 Fleifal brothers were in Afghanistan in the 1990s
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Activities in Iraq
 The Peace Process and withdrawal of U.S. troops
(actually increasing through 2006 with 135,000 troops)
 A “Federated” State
 Understand the linkage between Hezb’Allah and Iran
 62% of population in Iraq is Shiite
 Al-Sistani wisdom via Abu Bakir Bashir in Kum, Iran—
be patient!
 Increase in bombing activities (NH4NO3)
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Commonalities
 By method of operation and tactics—multiple attacks and most are
sophisticated suicidal attacks
 By financing from viable ME countries or groups (Iran and
Hezb’Allah—DRUG CONNECTION)
 By radical Islamic philosophy (Sunni and Shiite)
 Many are members of the original Mujahadeen in Afghanistan, or
at least trained in Afghani camps (remember Ahmed Ressam)
 Stepped-up activity because of Iraq
 All connected to UBL and al Qaeda for leadership during the same
period of time—what is al Qaeda now?
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The New al Qaeda
 “The imperative of individual jihad fused with collective revenge”
for America’s perceived global war on Islam. Enemy is the West
and Middle East puppet governments
 Expansion presented by the occupation of Iraq—win the war lost
in Afghanistan
 Sunni-Shiite collaboration
 Competent and determined leadership cadre with adequate
finances (drugs, human, and arms dealing)
 Growth through new Islamic alliances and recruitment of youth,
again fueled by Iraq War (e.g., Southeast Asia, Colombia, Central
Asian Republics)
 “A remarkably nimble, flexible, and adaptive entity”
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New Trends in Financing
 Drug trafficking
 Golden Crescent routes and changes
 Golden Crescent now produces 92% of the world’s opium
(since the Karzai government)
 Changes from heroin to meth (Operation Mountain Express—
2003)
 Linkages to Hezb’Allah
 Changes in Malaysia (potential link w/Thailand via smuggling)
 ‘Designer drugs’ e.g. ecstasy, yaya pills,
 Other smuggling
 Linkages with FARC and other Latin American Marxist groups
 Linkages with organized crime cartels
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New Trends in Financing (continued)
 Human trafficking
 Middle East (Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics)
 Linked with organized crime—Russian Vory
 Cambodia, and Philippines
 Linked with madrasas in Southeast Asia (children)
 Linked with organized crime—Yakuza
 A word about Abu Sayyaf
 Kidnapping and extortion
 Links to Hezb’Allah
 Links to FARC and ELN
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New Trends in Financing (continued)
 Credit card and passport fraud
 Contraband smuggling and trafficking
 Baby aspirin and formula, cigarettes, etc.
 Gold, diamonds, and other commodities
 Hawalas (secret transferring and funding of money—primarily
gold (commodities)
 Charities fraud (like Holy Land Foundation and HAMAS)
 Often linked through Hezbollah in Lebanon
 Again, Shiite and Sunni cooperation
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New Trends in Financing (continued)
 Arms trafficking
 Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics
 Chechnyans and, again, connected via Russian mob (Vory)
 Southeast Asia
 From Somalia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and other destabilized
countries
 FARC and ELN
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Potential Trends for Future
Consideration
 Potential attacks involving Southeast Asia (let’s talk about
it?)
 Very active in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines
 Instability of Southern Thailand…..what to do?
 The Middle East is too hot—organizations are in disarray and
leadership is on the run! Where might they go?
 Jemaah Islamiyah, Hambali, Ramsi Youseff, and Project
Bojinka (the new Kingdom of Islam) have historical linkages
with Southeast Asia
 Porous U.S. border and rise in OTMs from Mexico
 Drug, human, and arms trafficking and linkages to US
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Potential Trends for Future
Consideration (continued)
 Target selection
 Virtually unlimited target acquisition and potential inside the
United States
 Embassies still major targets
 Friendly countries
 Major symbolic targets in New York; Washington, DC; Chicago;
and maybe Los Angeles are still the major hit areas
 Transit and transportation locations
 They know they can hurt us here again
 Potential for WMD ???
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Final Thoughts on the Future
 International connectivity of groups, especially along the lines of
drug, human, and arms trafficking (financing)
 Increased radical factionalism and religious extremism
 This is not crime; it is war! Our criminal justice systems may be
ill-equipped to handle such low-level conflict….how do we handle
properly handle these types of situations???
 We must understand the changing dynamics of terrorism—
 Continue to build strong partnerships between countries like the
U.S. and Thailand
 Never give up on diplomacy!
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Thank You!
Robert W. Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Criminal Justice
University of North Texas
Post Office Box 305130
Denton, Texas 76203-5130
Phone: (940) 565-4475
FAX: (940) 565-2548
Email: rtaylor@scs.unt.edu
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