Canada to be involved in anti-terrorist training exercise
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/08/23/598592-cp.html
LONDON (CP) - A major anti-terrorism exercise involving Canada, Britain and the United States will be staged next spring to test the transatlantic reaction to a series of terrorism attacks in the three countries, according to a British newspaper report. The Times said unnamed officials in the British government have told it that the weeklong exercise is expected to start with mock terrorist strikes on the U.S., which would be followed by attacks in Canada and Britain.
A spokeswoman for Britain's Home Office said Monday that the three countries would participate in an "emergency exercise" some time next year, but she wouldn't confirm details about the plan.
The Home Office, which is responsible for law and order in Britain, has set up a team to organize the exercise in the U.K., similar to local preparations that are being done in Canada and the U.S., the government spokeswoman said.
The Times said anti-terror experts in Washington, London and Toronto are completing the scenario that will be used to test emergency responses and could include chemical, biological or radioactive attacks.
Other possible scenarios include plane hijackings that start in the U.S. and spread into Canada and Britain, the Times said. The scenarios are based on intelligence assessments of al-Qaida's threat to large cities.
In Britain, the mock attacks will be used to determine how well emergency organizations handle evacuation plans and react to the injured and dead while maintaining essential services.
Britain conducted a high-profile test of the response of its emergency services to a terrorist attack on its subway system about a year ago.
A report on the simulated terrorist strike found that London was not entirely prepared for the real thing. The simulation was similar to the fatal sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system in 1995.
The evaluation of the exercise determined that communication between emergency crews needed to be improved. It also questioned whether ambulance crews administered antidotes to contaminated casualties quickly enough.
The simulation in Britain, Canada and the U.S. slated for next year, which has been in the planning stages since July 2003, is aimed at determining what is the "best practice" for dealing with an emergency, the government spokeswoman said.
It will also test how well the three countries communicate and co-ordinate their reactions to an emergency.
8.23.04 Translations "Two days Friday and Tuesday..."
Central Asia: Is Hizb ut-Tahrir a Threat to Stability?
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/8/F270F4FE-F8B2-4B5A-ACF8-087E22CBEA2E.html
Established in the 1950s in the Middle East, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (The Party of Islamic Liberation) began operating in Central Asia around 10 years ago. The group advocates replacing the governments of the Muslim world with an Islamic state in the form of a Caliphate. Although the group professes only peaceful means to achieve its aims, Central Asian governments have mostly taken a harsh stance against it.
PRAGUE, Aug 23 (NCA/Antoine Blua) - During the past decade, the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has become increasingly active - and controversial -- in Central Asia.
Although the group officially espouses peaceful means to achieving its goal of establishing a Caliphate, it's been blamed by Central Asian governments for a recent upsurge in Islamist violence. Uzbek authorities suspect it may be behind a series of recent attacks that killed several people there.
David Lewis, who runs the Central Asia project for the International Crisis Group (ICG) in the Kyrgyz city of Osh, says the group is feeding on discontent. He says many - especially the young - are attracted to it as an alternative form of political opposition or expression.
But he says Hizb ut-Tahrir's influence should not be exaggerated as it has little public support in Central Asia:
(INSERT AUDIO - Lewis in English - NC082303)
"It has been spreading but not as much as [Central Asian] governments suggest. There have been arrests in southern Tajikistan and there are occasional reports of arrests in northern Kyrgyzstan. [But] its core constituency is the Uzbek territory. In Kazakhstan they have gained increasing support. [However] for most young people of the region, it's not an attractive option."
Although Hizb ut-Tahrir is not known for committing terrorist acts, it's opposed by Central Asian governments at odds with the group's political objectives. Kenzhebulat Beknazarov, a spokesman for the Kazakh National Security Committee, told RFE/RL in the capital Astana:
(INSERT AUDIO -- Beknazarov in Kazakh -- NC080233)
"In general, Hizb ut-Tahrir and other similar organizations are serving against our constitution. Of course it is the goal of our state authorities and the National Security Committee to fight them, it is our obligation."
Uzbekistan is leading the way by arresting and sentencing thousands of members to prison terms. According to independent Uzbek estimates, there may be as many as 5,000 alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members in Uzbek prisons.
Twice this year, Uzbekistan was targeted by waves of violence, including bombings, for which authorities were quick to blame Hizb ut-Tahrir.
But the group claims to reject violence. Hizb ut-Tahrir member Sultan Badalov told RFE/RL in the Kyrgyz city of Jalalabad:
(INSERT AUDIO - Badalov in Kyrgyz - NC082025)
"In Islam, to kill someone and to shed his blood is a sin. It is forbidden to kill an innocent person, even if he is from another confession. Hizb ut-Tahrir is conducting political and ideological work only. And it is against armed fighting. Hizb ut-Tahrir does not have relations with terrorist actions."
In some instances, the governments have joined forces with mainstream religious figures to oppose Hizb ut-Tahrir. Imam Saidbek Boyzoda told RFE/RL recently in Dushanbe:
(INSERT AUDIO - Boyzoda in Tajik - NC082304)
"Of course, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a threat to our society. It's a religious threat [because] it does not serve Islam. It only brings tension. Hizb ut-Tahrir is opposed by the police because they don't know the group's financial sources. The danger is [an] explosion because they [have fragmented] society. They use Islam as a mask but their words and actions don't have any link to Islam."
The utopia of a Caliphate may not be achievable. But analysts warn that repression of Hizb ut-Tahrir members has radicalized the movement and threatened to sow the seeds of greater Islamist extremism.
Regional security expert Ahmed Rashid, the author of "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia," recently told RFE/RL:
(INSERT AUDIO -- Rashid in English -- NC082323)
"The enormous repression of the regimes and the lack of any kind of political expression naturally forces politically oriented people to go underground and to become radicalized, and then join these Islamist groups."