This report updates the version issued on September 10, 2001, just prior to the September 11 attacks on theWorld Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed about 3,000 persons. It is an analysis of Near Eastern terroristgroups and countries on the U.S. "terrorism list," a list of countries that the Secretary of Commerce and Secretaryof State have determined provide repeated support for international terrorism. (2) This report adopts the samedefinition of terrorism as that used by the State Department in its annual reports: the definition contained in Title22 U.S.C. Section 2656f(d). According to this section, "terrorism" means "premeditated politically-motivatedviolence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intendedto influence an audience." Five out of the seven states currently on the terrorism list are located in the Near East region -- Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan. (The other two are Cuba and North Korea, which will not be covered in this report). Thecomposition of the list has not changed since Sudan was added in 1993. The groups analyzed in this reportinclude, but are not limited to, those designated as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (FTOs), pursuant to theAnti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ( P.L. 104-132 ). The last section of the report discussessignificant themes in U.S. unilateral and multilateral efforts to combat terrorism in or from the region. The StateDepartment's annual report on international terrorism, entitled Patterns of Global Terrorism: 2000 (3) is asignificant source for this report; other sources include press reports and conversations with U.S.counter-terrorism officials, experts, investigative journalists, and foreign diplomats. Although the September 11 attacks have placed Near Eastern terrorist groups at the center of U.S. anti-terrorism policy, Near Eastern terrorist groups and their state sponsors have been a focus of U.S. counter-terrorism policiesfor several decades. Since the 1970s, many of the most high-profile acts of terrorism against American citizensand targets have been conducted by these groups, sometimes with the encouragement or at the instigation of theirstate sponsors. However, no single terrorist attack -- either in or outside the Near East region -- compares inscale to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, which killed a total of over 3,000persons. Senior U.S. officials have attributed this attack to the Al Qaeda network, whose leaders enjoyedsanctuary in Afghanistan from 1996 until their defeat at the hands of the U.S. military and its Afghan partners inlate 2001. According to Patterns of Global Terrorism: 2000 (available on the U.S. Department of State's web site at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/ ; hereafter cited as Patterns 2000 ), worldwideterrorism-relatedcasualties increased to 405 in 2000 from 233 in 1999, but the number of attacks increased only slightly, from 392in 1999 to 423 in 2000. Of these 2000 totals, only 16 of the 423 attacks and 19 of the 405 casualties occurred inthe Middle East, although Patterns 2000 covered only three months of the Palestinian uprising that began in lateSeptember 2000. Since 2001 began, there have been dozens of terrorism-related Israeli casualties resulting fromPalestinian suicide bomb attacks, some of them in retaliation for Israeli actions against suspected Palestinianmilitants. Thirty-one of attacks and 12 of the deaths during 2000 occurred in Eurasia (Central Asia, theCaucasus, and Russia). The terrorist groups analyzed often differ in their motivations, objectives, ideologies, and levels of activity. The Islamist groups remain generally the most active, stating as their main objective the overthrow of secular,pro-Western governments, the derailment of the Arab-Israeli peace process, the expulsion of U.S. forces from theregion, or the end of what they consider unjust occupation of Muslim lands. Some groups, such as the KurdistanWorkers' Party (PKK), fight for cultural and political rights or the formation of separate ethnically-based states. Table 1 below shows the 20 Near Eastern groups currently designated by the State Departmentas FTOs. Thedesignations were mostly made when the FTO list was inaugurated in October 1997 and revised in October 1999and October 2001. A group can be added to the list at any time; Al Qaeda (the bin Laden network) was added onAugust 21, 1998, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was designated on September 25, 2000, and two Pakistanigroups -- Lashkar e-Tayyiba and Jaish e-Mohammad -- were added to the FTO list on December 26, 2001. Under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the designation of a group as an FTO blocks its assetsin the United States and makes it a criminal offense for U.S. persons to provide it with material support orresources, such as financial contributions. Executive Order 12947 of January 23, 1995, also bars U.S. dealings(contributions to or financial transactions) with any individuals named as "Specially Designated Terrorists(SDTs)." On November 2, 2001, the Secretary of State also subjected all FTOs to the increased financialrestrictions that had been applied to Al Qaeda-related entities under Executive Order 13224 (September 23,2001). Under this new executive order, the United States can close down U.S. branches of foreign banks that donot comply with U.S. requests to end dealings with the FTOs. An SDT, according to the executive order, is aperson found to pose a significant risk of disrupting the Middle East peace process, or to have materiallysupported acts of violence toward that end. Table 1. Near Eastern Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) In contrast to Patterns 2000, this report analyzes the following: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has not been the subject of a separate section in Patterns since Patterns 1995, is analyzed in this report because of the debate over whether PLO leaderYasir Arafat is taking sufficient steps to prevent terrorism by other groups in areas under the control of thePalestinian Authority. Since late 2000, there has been discussion about the degree to which certain PLO factionsare involved in violence against Israel and whether they should be named as FTOs. When the FTO list was reviewed and re-issued in October 1999, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) was dropped, largely because it has reconciled with Arafat. The group's pastinvolvement in terrorism, and the recent revival of its operations against Israel, are discussed in this report. This report contains a section on the Abu Sayyaf Group operating in the Philippines, as well as analysis of several Pakistani Islamist groups that are fighting Indian control of part of Kashmir Province. These groups are discussed in this report, even though they operate outside the Near East region, because of theiralleged connections to the bin Laden network and the Taliban of Afghanistan. In accordance with the October 2001 redesignation of the FTO list, the two Jewish extremist groups Kach and Kahane Chai will be treated as one group. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, and particularly since the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran inNovember of that year, radical Islam has attracted widespread press attention as the driving ideology of the mostactive Middle Eastern terrorist groups and state sponsors. Of the 20 FTOs listed above, 12 are Islamicorganizations. Lebanon-based Hizballah appears to be groping for direction following Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. Having accomplished its main goal of ousting Israel from southern Lebanon, some in the organizationwant it to focus exclusively on political and social work, primarily through participation in parliament (it holds 8out of 128 total seats) and through its charity and reconstruction works with Lebanon's Shiite community. Somewant Hizballah to accept ministerial positions in Lebanon's cabinet, a step that Hizballah has thus far not taken. Hardliners in Hizballah want it to battle Israeli forces over the border, particularly in the disputed Shib'a farmsarea. (5) Other hardliners in the organization believethat the Israeli withdrawal validated its guerrilla strategy andappear to be helping Palestinian groups apply similar tactics against Israeli forces in the West Bank and GazaStrip. Although initially encouraged by Hizballah's relative restraint following the Israeli withdrawal, Israel and the United States remain wary of Hizballah. Hizballah's 15 year military campaign against Israeli and Israelisurrogate forces in southern Lebanon -- activity that is not technically considered terrorism by the U.S. StateDepartment -- often included rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. Even though the United Nations has certifiedthat Israel's withdrawal is complete, Hizballah has asserted that Israel still occupies some Lebanese territory (theShib'a farms) and, on that basis, has conducted several military attacks on Israel since the withdrawal. InOctober 2000, Hizballah captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shib'a farms area and kidnaped an Israelinoncombatant whom it had lured to Lebanon. Israel announced in early November 2001 that the three soldiersare believed dead. Hizballah has continued to conduct surveillance of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon and its personnel, according torecent Patterns reports, but no major terrorist attacks have been attributed to it since 1994. However, accordingto numerous press reports and Hizballah leaders' own statements, the organization is providing advice andlogistical support to Islamist Palestinian groups fighting against Israel in the latest Palestinian uprising, whichbegan in September 2000.