Islam stands for universal peace

There are other verses in the Quran on unity, integrity and solidarity of humanity. The Holy Quran marks the friends of division and conflict in the human race, which lead to human disaster and destruction :

"But people have cut off this affair (of unity) between them, into sects; each party rejoice in that which is with itself." (23:53).

"But (later generation) cut off this affair (of unity) one from another." (21:93)

Division, separation and conflict in the human race, be it in the name of religion, creed, caste, race or politics, is not permitted at all. The Quran categorically forbids:

"Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance...." (6:108)

The verses mentioned are on religious tolerance and honourable co-existence. The Holy Quran speaks here of this very important factor and concern of division; and discards it in this way. Thus no scope of division and conflict in the society on the basis of other minor factors remaining to disturb the solidarity and peace of mankind.

The universality of Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (Sm), the last and the greatest Messenger of the Creator, is relevant here :

"I have not sent thee but unto the whole mankind as a Messenger of goodness and a warner ; but most people do not know." (44:28)

The verse 13 of Sura Huzurat, 213 of Sura Baqara, 19 of Sura Eunus and 158 of Sura Aaraf speak of the unity of mankind and universal message of the last Messenger. There are other verses relating to the solidarity of mankind and peace—the cherished goal. There are so many Traditions of Rasulullah (Sm) speaking of integrity, security and welfare of all human beings. This mission of peace extends it to all creatures in the universe. The Messenger of Allah declared :

"O Lord, Lord of life and everything in the universe! I affirm that all human beings are brothers unto one another." And "All creatures of Allah form the family of Allah and he is the best loved by Allah who loveth best His creatures."

The message of the Holy Quran was manifested in the unique character of Hazrat Muhammad (sm) and his dedicated associates. They ensured tolerance, justice, brotherly relation and peace among people of different communities under the Khilafat. The people of other communities had the best security of their lives, property and faith there. They could practice their religious rituals according to their faith and beliefs and enjoyed full freedom under that welfare state founded by the Messenger of Allah. The Khilafat always extended its support and justice to any minority of creed, colour or caste.

This glorious tradition of upholding the dignity of man, human fraternity, security and peace marched forward crossing centuries wherever the Muslims had the scope to reign. Universal human brotherhood in Islam as a doctrine was materialised in the welfare Islamic state of Madina and it continued its pouring of blessings in different human habitations in the world from 'Granada to Delhi.'

Muslim history bears testimony to this glorious expedition and is the unique exception in the history of mankind. The Western scholars, many of the orientalists, who could rise above biased evaluation and misinterpretation, praised highly about the blessings of Muslim rule and contribution to human civilisation. Communal narrowness had all along been a very much hated one as a doctrine and a practice and history of Islam kicked it out.

In this limited space, I can cite one example and quotation in this context : Hazrat Ali (Ra), one of the Khalifas of the esteemed Khulafa-e-Rashedeen, in his administrative letter to the Governor Malik al-Ashtar (Ra) mentioned the responsibility of an Islamic administrator :

"............so, extend to them your forgiveness and pardon, in the same way as you would like Allah to extend His forgiveness and pardon to you, because you are over them and your responsible Commander (Imam) is over you while Allah is over him who has appointed you. He (Allah) has sought you to manage their affairs and has tried you through them." (Nahj-al-Balaghah, compiled by Dr. Subhi Saleh, P.426) Rasulullah's Hadith may be remembered in this connection : "All are custodians and are responsible for their charges." (Bukhari, Muslim)

Still today, when the Muslims have lost all their glorious heritage and havings, they are not yet devoid of that universal conception and viewpoint of human brotherhood, which inaugurated their journey and which was a golden feather in their crown. Today, the Muslims all over the globe are in the defensive and oppressed. This situation has some causes, of which universal fraternal outlook is one.

In our discussion on the universal fratermal appeal of Islam, unity of mankind, world-wide mission of Muhammadur Rasulullah (Sm) and the secured peace and prosperity of other communities under Muslim rule first at Madina and then in different countries of the world, it can be claimed that mankind enjoyed the best model of freedom, security and peace in the period when the Muslims dominated the globe. There was no barrier of religion, creed, race, caste or colour to stand in the way of justice to all. Peace was the goal and it was materialised by the followers of Islam.

In this background we may also have a focus on the 'border of peace' in Islam. The question is : if inspite of all approaches and campaigns of peace, the heartiest endeavours fail and conflict or war becomes inevitable because of outward aggression, because of massacre and genocide of innocent people, because of damage and destroying of property and resources of the people, because of damage of houses of worship and religious institutions, because of annihilation becoming the fate of 'defensive' 'peace-missioned' Muslims, Muslims, what should be done at this critical moment? Should the and the propagators and protagonists of peace nourish so-called peace at the cost of all these mentioned before? Does Allah, the Creator of all human beings allow the strategy of being annihilated in the name of ensuring peace on the part of the Muslims only ? No. Islam at these circumstances, ordains Muslim a different responsibility. It is also with the ultimate goal of peace ; but it does not arise from the source of normal position of ensuring peace. The strategy is completely different and it goes to the extent of struggle and fight against any inhuman aggression. This is very much defensive and its border is only the protection of the insecured people and place from becoming victim of barbarous man-made disaster. The fight is only to ensure the long-cherished peace. This is Zihad in the sense of warfare against satanic forces.

"And permission (to fight) is given upon whom war is made because they are oppressed........"(22:39)

"Go forth light and heavy, and strive hard in Allah's way with your property and yourselves." (9:41)

"Those who believe, fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil; so fight ye against the friends of satan ; feeble indeed is cunning of Satan." (4:76)

"And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? Men, women and children, whose cry is : Our Lord! rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help." (4:75)

Again, on the other side, the struggle for peace mission of Islam proclaims its boundary to withdraw from war where there is the probability of establishing peace :

"Fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you and be not aggressors. Surely Allah does not love the aggressors." (2:190)

The verses of the Holy Quran are self-explanatory. There is no ambiguity in the Islamic mission of peace in the world. Peace is the goal and it should be achieved. The Muslims should shoulder the noble responsibility of establishing peace in this trouble-torn world. And while they are weak, target and victim of all aggressions, they should ponder over their eternal and universal Message—the Code of life. They should fight unitedly till peace is ensured for them and greater humanity.

According to our observations the Muslim Ummah is lacking in two most important factors to march forward—one is disunity and the other is inactivity in all worldly endeavours to become a mighty nation. The Message of Allah ordains :

"And hold fast all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; ......."(3:103)

"Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls); ........" (Raad : 11)

"Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put other in your place; ........" (Tawba : 39)

Okay. Here's context for ya.

10/12/67 Greece: British European Airways airliner destroyed over Rhodes, by a bomb in the passenger cabin 60 dead.[5]

6/5/68 US: Robert Kennedy murdered by Jordanian terrorist, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, in Los Angeles. The killer became the cause of further terrorist attacks, as Arab terrorist groups demanded his release.[6]

7/23/68 El Al Airliner, Rome to Tel Aviv, hijacked to Algiers. Hostages held 5 weeks, then released in return for the 2 Palestinian and 1 Syrian hijacker, and 16 prisoners. The first and last successful El Al hijacking.

12/26/68 Greece: Gunfire attack on El Al airliner in Athens. 1 killed, 1 wounded. In response, Israeli commandos destroyed 14 Lebanese aircraft at Beirut International Airport.[7] 2 Palestinian hijackers freed after 7/22/70 attack (below).

2/18/69 Switzerland: Gunfire attack on El Al airliner at Zurich. 1 killed. 1 hijacker killed; 4 imprisoned. 3 freed after 9/6/70 attacks (below).

5/22/69 Denmark: Assassination attempt against Israeli PM Ben- Gurion foiled. Would-be assassins freed.

8/1969 TWA Flight 840, Rome to Athens, hijacked to Damascus, destroyed after hostages freed.[8]

8/23/69 Attack on Israeli Commercial Fair in Izmir. 1 bomber killed, 1 wounded from the bomb.

8/29/69 TWA airliner from LA hijacked to Damascus. 2 Palestinians not brought to trial.

9/8/69 Grenade attack on El Al office, Brussels. 2 young boys recruited by al-Fatah. Iraqi embassy helped 1 escape.

11/27/69 Greece: Grenade attack on El Al office in Athens. 1 child killed. 13 wounded. 2 Jordanians imprisoned; freed after 7/22/70 hijacking (below).

12/5/69 Britain: Attack on airliner in London anticipated; 4 militants arrested.

12/17/69 Britain: London hijacking foiled.

12/21/69 Greece: Foiled hijacking in Athens; 3 Lebanese freed after 7/22/70 hijacking (below).

1/9/70 Lebanon: TWA airliner hijacked to Paris. Single hijacker freed.

2/10/70 Germany: Munich Airport. 3 terrorists attacked El Al passengers in a bus with guns and grenades. 1 passenger killed, 11 injured. All 3 terrorists captured. Responsibility: The Action Organization for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Freed after 9/6/70 attacks.

2/17/70 Germany: Foiled hijack attempt against El Al airliner. 3 would-be hijackers freed in under 2 months.

2/21/70 Switzerland: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine blow up a Swissair Convair airliner leaving Zurich for Tel Aviv. 47 dead. On the same day, a bomb exploded aboard a Frankfurt to Vienna flight; it landed safely in Frankfurt.[9]

2/23/70 Israel: Palestinian Liberation Organization fires on a bus, killing American Barbara Ertle.

3/28, 29/70 Lebanon: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fires 7 rockets at the US Embassy, the JFK Library, and 2 businesses in Beirut.[10]

5/4/70 Paraguay: attack on Israeli embassy at Asuncion. Wife of diplomat killed. 2 Palestinians serve 3 years in prison.

7/22/70 Greece: Olympic Airlines plane hijacked from Athens to Beirut. Palestinian Popular Struggle Front responsible. The hijackers and 7 other attackers freed (see 12/21/69, 11/27/69, 12/26/68 above).

9/6/1970 Four airliners hijacked over the Atlantic Ocean. On 9/11. a fifth was hijacked.

TWA Boeing 707 from Frankfurt; Swissair DC8 from Zurich; El Al Boeing 707 from Amsterdam; Pan American Boeing 747 from Amsterdam. On 9/11. a fifth jet was hijacked: BOAC-VC-10, Bombay to Beirut.

Responsibility: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The attempt against Israel's El Al airliner was foiled. The crew was armed, one hijacker was shot, and a passenger and a crew member overpowered the other (armed with grenades). The plane landed safely at London Heathrow. The hijacker, a Palestinian woman named Leila Khaled, later said of the El Al flight: "We knew beforehand that on the plane there were armed security men - but we didn't know that the crew were armed too." This is kind of surprise that saves lives. Precisely 31 years before 9/11/2001, El Al had demonstrated a hijacker's worst nightmare: an armed crew and defiant passengers. Thirty-one years later, Todd Beamer-of the fourth airliner on 9/11/01, United Flight 93- had nothing to fight with.

On 9/30 Khaled and six other Palestinians, held in Germany and Switzerland, were released. They were responsible for the 12/26/68, 11/27/69 and 12/21/69 attacks (above).

Khaled had also hijacked TWA Flight 840 in 1969. She was a known enemy of Israel, who had plastic surgery to get past Israeli security and onto another flight. In a BBC interview on January 1, 2001, Khaled was asked about the importance of forcing the government of Britain to negotiate, and she answered: "The success in the tactics of hijacking and imposing our demands and succeeding in having our demands implemented, gave us the courage and the confidence to go ahead with our struggle. It made us continue the struggle because it showed us materially that we could achieve our goals by armed struggle."[11]

9/14/70 TWA airliner from Zurich, hijacked to Amman, Jordan. Four Americans injured.[12]

12/17/70 5 terrorists arrested in Munich for attempt to sabotage an El Al plane.3 months in prison.

5/28/71 Turkey: Israeli Consul Efraim Elrom assassinated in Istanbul. The Turkish Liberation Army, in alliance with Palestinians, claimed responsibility.[13]

6/23/71 Attack on Jordanian target in Paris. 1 arrest.

10/4/71 Lebanon: attempt to hijack a Jordanian plane foiled. 2 Palestinians arrested.

11/28/71 Prime Minister Wasfi Tal of Jordan assassinated in Cairo. 4 "Black September" members arrested; freed in 1973.

2/19/72 Egypt: hijacking of Jordanian plane foiled in Cairo. 1 arrested.

2/22/72 Hijacking of Lufthansa airliner, New Delhi to Athens, to Aden, Yemen. Hostages freed after money payment to 5 hijackers. Responsibility: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[14]

5/8/72 Sabena airliner hijacked from Brussels, forced to land at Tel Aviv. Israelis force release of plane and passengers by assault. 2 hijackers killed, 2 serving life in prison.

5/30/72 Israel: machine gun attack by 3 Japanese, under Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 27 killed, 80 wounded. 2 attackers killed, 1 serving life in prison.

8/16/72 El Al Flight, Rome to Tel Aviv, bombed in luggage compartment. 2 conspirators arrested in Rome, freed.

9/5/1972 Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. 8 Palestinian "Black September" terrorists stormed the Olympic village, taking 11 members of the Israeli wrestling team hostage. 9 hostages, and all but 3 of the terrorists, killed. Killed included an American - Israeli from Cleveland, David Berger. Killers released in 10/29/72 attack. Israel responded with air strikes. After three terrorists were freed by the German government on 10/29, Israel began Operation Wrath of God, systematically hunting down and killing the attackers across the world. Highlights include:

12/8/72 Mahmoud Hamshari killed by exploding telephone in Paris.

4/6/73 Basil al-Kubaisi shot in Paris.

On 4/10/73, Operation Spring of Youth: "The Unit," led by future PM Ehud Barak (in disguise as a woman), landed with inflatable boats in Beirut; kills Kamal Nasser, Mahmoud Yussuf Najjer, and Kemal Adwan, in their Beirut apartments. It was 30 minutes from the landing back to the sea.

5/28/73 Mohammed Boudia killed in car bomb in Paris.

On 1/22/79 Ali Hassan Salame "The Red Prince" killed by Israeli car bomb in Beirut. He was Arafat's #2 man, and accompanied him to the UN in 1974.

On 8/1/81 Abu Daoud, mastermind of the massacre, killed in a Warsaw café. In 1999 the Palestine Prize for Culture was granted to Daoud for his book, "Palestine: From Jerusalem to Munich." It describes how he killed the athletes.[15]

9/9/72 England: An Israeli diplomat is killed by a letter bomb in London.[16]

10/23/72 A Palestinian, with Algerian diplomatic passport, was arrested in Amsterdam carrying arms. Freed.

10/29/72 Lufthansa airliner, Beirut to Ankara, hijacked to Zagreb. Released after 3 of the 9/15/72 Munich Olympic terrorists were freed by the German government. The terrorists held a news conference. Israel vowed privately to get them.

12/24/72 Britain: A Palestinian, convicted of planning attacks in Scandanavia. Freed after 1 year.

1/20/73 Austria: 6 Arabs arrested in Vienna, and in Italy, planning attacks against Russian Jews in Austria. Given suspended prison sentences, freed, expelled from Austria and Italy.

3/2/73 Sudan: US Ambassador Cleo A. Noel, JR. and diplomat George C. Moore, taken hostage and killed. Responsibility: probably Fatah Organization. [17]

3/12/73 Cyprus: Palestinian Black September terrorists murder an Israeli businessman.[18]

3/15/73 France: Planned attack on Jordanian, Israeli Embassies in Paris. 4 arrested; all released and expelled.

4/4/73 Attack on El Al plane at Rome foiled. 2 arrested, deported to Lebanon.

4/9/73 Cyprus: Plan to attack Israeli plane and Ambassador's residence foiled. 4 Arabs imprisoned; set free after 11/25/73 attack (below).

4/27/73 Italy: civilian clerk murdered at El Al desk in Rome airport by Palestinian.

4/27/73 Lebanon: 3 arrested at Beirut for carrying explosives, bound for Nice, France.

5/20/73 Britain: Letter bombs sent to England, Holland. 2 Arabs arrested, expelled.

6/17/73 Italy: car bomb explodes near Rome El Al desk, 2 Arabs in it injured, freed without trial.

7/19/73 Greece: attack on El Al office foiled. Hostages taken in hotel. Palestinian freed, expelled.

7/20/73 Japanese airliner, Tokyo to Amsterdam, hijacked to Libya. 1 hijacker killed by own grenade. Other not tried?

8/5/73 Greece: Athens airport, machine gun attack in Israeli lounge; 3 dead, 55 wounded. Sentenced to death; commuted after hijacking of a Greek freighter in Pakistan, 2/2/74.

9/5/73 Italy: planned missile attack at Rome airport foiled. 5 Palestinians arrested. 2 released on bail, no-show for trial.

9/5/73 France: Saudi Arabian Embassy attacked. 5 attackers allowed to fly to Kuwait with 6 hostages. Attackers handed over to Palestinian Liberation Organization on 10/11/73.

9/28/73 Austria: 3 hostages taken on train. Released after Austria agrees to close transit camp for Russian / Jewish immigrants at Schonau. 2 Palestinians arrested, freed, expelled.

10/6/73 A Coalition of Arab states launches two-front military attack on Israel, the Yom Kippur War during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadam.

11/25/73 KLM airliner, flying to New Delhi, hijacked to Abu Dhabi. 3 hijackers surrender, fate unknown.

12/17/73 Italy: Rome Airport Attack and Hijacking. 5 attackers attacked a Pan American 707 with grenades. They herded 5 Italian hostages into a Lufthansa airliner and killed an Italian customs agent, and forced the pilot to fly to Beirut. After Lebanon refused to let the plane land, it landed in Athens, where the terrorists demanded the release of 2 Arab terrorists. They killed a hostage and threw his body onto the tarmac. The plane flew to Damascus, for fuel and food. It then flew to Kuwait, where the terrorists released their hostages in return for passage to an unknown destination- probably to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. 33 killed.

2/2/74 Pakistan: Freighter Vory Hijacked at port at Karachi. In April, the Greek government commuted the death sentences of the 2 attackers responsible for 8/5/73 attack at Athens to life in prison. In May, they were freed, and deported to Libya at Libya's request.[19]

3/1/74 Sudan: Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum seized by Black September terrorists. Diplomats taken hostages. The terrorists murder 2American and 1 Belgian diplomat.[20]

9/8/74 Greece: TWA Flight 841, Tel Aviv to NY, crashed after takeoff from a scheduled stop in Athens. 88 killed, including 1 American. Cause: explosives in rear cargo compartment.[21]

1/19/75 France: Arab terrorists attack Orly airport, Paris. 10 hostages seized. The French provided the terrorists with a plane to fly them to safety in Baghdad, Iraq.[22]

6/27/75 Germany. Politician Peter Lorenz kidnapped in West Berlin, by June the Second Movement terrorists. The German government released 5 terrorists, who were allowed to fly to South Yemen.[23]

6/29/75 Lebanon: US attaché kidnapped, released, when an anonymous donor met demands for food for a Beirut neighborhood.[24]

11/14/75 Israel: bombing in Jerusalem kills 6, including 1 American; wounds 38.[25]

11/21/75 Israel: 1 American killed in axe attack from a PLO faction (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine).[26]

12/21/75 Austria: Carlos "The Jackal" holds 11 oil ministers and 59 civilians hostage during an OPEC meeting in Vienna. Given several hundred million dollars in Algeria, Carlos escaped with other Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists.[27]

6/27/76 Air France jet, Paris to Athens, hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda. On 7/4 Israelis launch a rescue raid and free 105 passengers. 200 Commandos kill 20 Ugandan soldiers and all hijackers. 3 passengers are killed, along with the commando unit's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu. [28] One hostage, Mrs. Dora Bloch, had been taken to a hospital; she was murdered on Idi Amin's orders. Responsibility: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, German Baader-Meinhof, and Idi Amin.

8/11/76 Turkey: Attack on terminal at Istanbul airport. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Japanese Red Army terrorists kill 4, including an American, Harold Rosenthal, injure 20.[29]

1/1/77 Lebanon: US Ambassador Frances E. Meloy and the US Economic Counsellor kidnapped, later murdered.[30]

7/8/77 Kuwait Airways Boeing 707, Beirut to Kuwait, hijacked to Syria.[31]

10/13/77 Hijacking of Lufthansa airlines Boeing 737, Mallorca / Frankfurt, flies to Rome, Cyprus, Bahrain, Dubau, Aden, Mogadishu. Pilot killed in South Yemen. After 5 days German commandos storm the plane in Somalia. 3 hijackers killed; 1 arrested, served 1 year in prison; then arrested in Norway in 1996, serving 12 years. A woman convicted in 1996 of smuggling weapons onto Mallorca for the attack; released on time served, 2 ½ years.[32] Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

10/17/77 Air Djibouti commuter jet hijacked; Pilot and 1 passenger shot by hijacker.

6/2/78 Israel: Bus bombing in Jerusalem: 6 killed including 1 American.[33]

9/17/78 Camp David Peace accords between Egypt and Israel. Most Arab States, the PLO, and the Soviets reject the peace. Israel returns land taken from Egypt.

12/25/79 USSR invades Afghanistan; bin Laden moves there and organizes a financial network and a resistance to the Soviets based on jihad. 1989 USSR leaves.

1979 Saddam Hussein takes control of Iraq. The next year, he invades Iran.

4/14/79 4 Afghans kidnapped U.S. Ambassador Adolph Dubs in Kabul and demanded the release of various "religious figures." Dubs was killed, along with 4 terrorists, when Afghan police stormed the hotel where he was held.

5/4/79 Israel: Bomb attack in Tiberias; 2 Americans injured.[34]

11/4/79 Iranian hostage crisis. US territory (embassy) assaulted and occupied. 66 hostages taken; 53 held until 1/20/1981. No effective US military response: A rescue attempt by the Delta Force unit failed on 4/25/80 when a Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter crashed into a USAF C-130 transport aircraft in central Iran, 8 dead, 5 injured. NO further military action taken.

11/20/79 Saudi Arabia: 200 Islamic terrorists seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, taking hundreds of pilgrims hostage. Saudi and French security forces retook the shrine after a battle. Some 250 people were killed and 600 wounded. (The Bin Laden Construction Company trucks were used by militants. The company assisted the security forces.)[35]

12/2/79 Libya: 2,000 Libyans ransack the U.S. Embassy, in support of the Iranian regime.[36]

12/25/79 USSR invades Afghanistan; bin Laden moves there and organizes a financial network and a resistance to the Soviets based on jihad.

4/30/80 London: Iranian Embassy in Princess Gate, London attacked by 6 Iranians, who opposed the Ayatollah Khomeini, backed by Iraq. 26 hostages freed 6 days later by British Special Air Service anti-terrorist troops, with the support of the Iranian theocracy. 5 terrorists killed, 1 jailed for life. 2 hostages killed. Some 13 years later, Iran and England agreed to a "mutual compensation" package, whereby embassies in either country were repaired. "We did not surrender, we became victorious" said Iran's President Bani-Sadr.[37]

5/2/80 Israel: West Bank: PLO attack on people walking home from worship; 1 American killed.[38]

7/24/80 Kuwait Airways Boeing 737, Beirut to Kuwait, flown to Kuwait, Manama, Bahrain, Abadan; hijackers surrender in Kuwait.[39]

10/13/80 Turkish Boeing 72, Istanbul to Ankara, hijacked to Iran; lands in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Plane stormed; 4 hijackers arrested.[40]

1/20/81 Iran releases US hostages, upon inauguration of US President Reagan.

3/2/81 Pakistan International Airlines, Boeing 720, Karachi to Peshawar, Hijcaked to Kabul and Damascus. Hijackers surrendered after 13 days.

10/6/81 Egypt: Anwar Sadat assassinated by Islamic Jihad, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

7/9/82 Lebanon: David Dodge, Actin President of American University, kidnapped by Hizballah; released after 1 year. Syrian intelligence services helped in negotiations.[41]

9/14/82 Lebanon: Christian Premier Bashir Gemayel was assassinated by a car bomb. The result was a massacre, by Christians, in a refugee camp, as the Israeli army surrounded it. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon resigned after an Israeli investigation.

1982 Hizbollah (Party of God) founded in response to Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982. 1983: Israel withdrew, and international force came in.

3/16/83 Lebanon: 5 US Marines injured in grenade attack near Beirut Airport. Shi'ite Militia claimed responsibility.[42]

4/18/1983 Beirut, US Embassy destroyed by suicide truck-bombing. 63 people killed, including CIA Middle East Director Robert Ames; 120 wounded. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

10/23/83 Beirut, Lebanon: Marine Barracks bombed. 241 Marines, 56 French killed. Responsible: Lebanese Shia militants, Islamic Jihad members under Iranian control. Response: US bombed Syrian Air Defense positions. French bombed Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions. The international force left in 4/1984-the key demand of the militants.

12/12/83 Kuwait: US embassy targeted by Iranian backed Iraqi Shia truck-bomb. The attack was foiled; the bomb exploded in the Embassy fore-court. 5 killed.[43]

1/18/84 Malcolm Kerr, President of American University in Beirut, murdered by gunmen. Hizballah claimed the goal was to "drive all Americans out from Lebanon."[44]

1/20/84 Iran declared a sponsor of terrorism by US.

3/7/84 Lebanon: CNN Bureau Chief Jeremy Levin kidnapped, escaped to Syrian army barracks, returned to Americans.[45]

3/8/84 Lebanon: Rev. Benjamin Weir kidnapped; released after 16 months, with Syrian and Iranian Assistance.[46]

3/16/84 Lebanon: Islamic Jihad kidnapped / murdered Political Officer William Buckley.

4/12/84 Spain: A restaurant near US Air Force Base at Torrejon bombed. 18 U.S. servicemen killed, 83 injured.

9/20/84 Lebanon: Suicide bomb attack on US Embassy in Beirut. 23 dead, 21 injured. Responsible: Hizballah.[47]

9/20/84 Lebanon: truck bombing of US Embassy Annex in Aukar. 2 Americans, over a dozen others killed. 20 injured, including US Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew and British Ambassador David Miers. Responsible: Islamic Jihad, in retaliation for US veto of a UN Security Concil resolution.[48] Putative attempt to kill the head of Hizbollah fails.

12/4/84 Kuwait Airways, Airbus A300, Dubai to Karachi, hijacked to Tehran. 4 hijackers demand release of prisoners. Plane stormed after 6 days. 2 American Agency for International Development employees killed. Iran promises to try the attackers, but releases them to leave the country. [49] Reagan offers $250,000 reward; no military response.

1985-1986 US and Iran: arms scheme to fund Nicaraguan rebels.

3/8/85 Lebanon: Car bomb kills over 80 in Beirut.[50]

3/16/85 Terry Anderson, AP correspondent, kidnapped by Hizbollah in Lebanon. Anderson, Associated Press Bureau Chief in Beirut, was held for six years, released on 12/4/1991, the last US hostage in Lebanon.

5/28/85 American David Jacobsen, CEO of American University of Beirut Medical Center, taken hostage in Lebanon (held until 11/2/86). The captors and torturers of these men, and of Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland and Rev. Lawrence Jenco were Hizbollah, supported by Iran, granted sanctuary in Syria. No military action was taken against Iran.

6/14/85 TWA Airliner (Rome to Athens) hijacked to Beirut by Islamic Jihad. US Navy diver Robert Stethem killed, his body dumped on the tarmac. 39 Americans held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia and Hizbollah until freed on 6/3/1985 by orders of President Assad. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft was returned to Beirut after Israel released 435 prisoners. As always, the Shiites and the Sunnis were able to cooperate with the Baathist secular dictator Assad when directed against a common enemy. No military action was taken against Syria, or Iran as supporters of Hizbollah.

6/23/85 A bomb destroyed an Air India Boeing 747 over the Atlantic, killing all 329 people aboard. Both Sikh and Kashmiri terrorists were blamed. 2 cargo handlers were killed at Tokyo Airport, when another Sikh bomb exploded in an Air Canada aircraft.

10/7/85 Passenger shop the Achille Lauro ship hijacked off Egypt by 4 terrorists. Passenger Leon Klinghoffer pushed over the side in a wheelchair. The hijackers negotiated safe passage by air, but a US fighter forced them down in Sicily. The Italian government captured, then released the mastermind, Abu Abbas, but convicted 11 others, including Klinghoffer's killer, Youssef Magied al-Molqi. He disappeared while on leave from prison for good behavior. Two others were paroled. Abbas was captured in Baghdad in April, 2003, and died of natural causes in US custody in March, 2004. Responsibility: the Palestinian Liberation Front.

8/1986 US Arms Export Control Act: forbids sales to Iran.

11/23/85 Egyptian Airliner Hijacking. An Egypt Air airliner from Athens to Malta hijacked by the Abu Nidal Islamic Group. (Abu Nidal was later captured in Iraq, during the American occupation.)

12/27/85 Italy, Austria: Simultaneous gun and grenade attacks against ticket desks of El Al airlines at airports in Rome and Vienna. Responsibility: Arafat denied involvement; probably the Fatah Revolutionary Council, run by Abu Nidal, although Arafat used them to appear moderate. 18 dead; some 120 injured.[51] Nidal was found dead in Iraq in August, 2002.

4/2/86 Greece: TWA Flight 840 from Rome bombed on approach to Athens. 15,000 feet over Argos, near Mycenae, a plastic explosive blew a hole in the side of the 727. 4 American citizens were sucked out to their deaths, including Demetra Stylianopoulou, her daughter Maria Stylian Klug and her infant grandaughter Demetra. 9 passengers were injured. (This was the second attack on TWA flight 840; see 8/1969.) Responsibility may rest with Ezzedine Kassam Unit of the Arab Revolutionary Cells, who claimed responsibility. The US State Department thought the bombing had been carried out by May Elias Mansur, under orders of a Palestinian, Colonel Hawari, with close ties to Yassir Arafat. Mohammed Rashid was arrested in Greece, tried, and served 4 years in prison.[52]

4/5/86 German discotheque in West Berlin bombed. 2 U.S. Servicemen killed, 79 injured in a Libyan bomb attack. U.S. military jets hit targets in and around Tripoli and Benghazi. France refuses over-flight because the US would not commit to going all the way against Qadaffi. The French were reluctant to commit if the US was going to pull back, leaving France with a problem in North Africa.[53]

9/9/86 Frank Reed, who owned and operated two private schools in Beirut with a Lebanese partner, was abducted in Beirut. Held hostage until 4/30/1990; when released, he was hospitalized for 80 days with arsenic poisoning.

9/12/86 Joseph Cicippio, Comptroller of American University of Beirut and its hospital, kidnapped in Beirut for 5 years and 3 months.

10/15/86 Israel: Grenade attack by Fatah kills an American woman at Western Wall.[54]

10/21/86 Lebanon. Edward A. Tracy, an American citizen in Beirut, kidnapped by Hizbollah. He was released five years later, on August 1991.[55]

10/24/86 Britain expels Syrian Ambassador Loutof Haydar for assisting in an attempt to blow up an Israeli airliner. Nezar Hindawi had placed a bomb in his girlfriend's hand luggage; it went through 2 X-ray machines and was found by the hand search of an officer who thought the bag looked heavy. The bomb was assembled at the Syrian Embassy in London. Hindawi received a 45 year sentence. Syria later admitted Hindawi had met with the Ambassador after the bomb was found, then stayed in Syrian accommodations as London police looked for him, and had a falsified Syrian passport.

2/2/1987 Terry Waite, Anglican church envoy and hostage negotiator, was taken hostage in Lebanon (he was released 11/18/1991 with Thomas Sutherland, kidnapped in 1985).

[4/24/87 Greece: Bus in Athens bombed. 16 U.S. servicemen riding in a Greek Air Force bus were injured in a bombing attack, carried out by the November 17 revolutionary organization.]

1987 Hamas ("Islamic Resistance Movement") founded, out of Muslim Brotherhood.

2/17/88 Kidnapping and murder of US Marine Lt. William Higgins, serving with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization in Lebanon, while driving from Tyre to Nakura. Responsibility: Iran, through Hizbollah.

4/14/88 Italy: USO Club in Naples car-bombed. 5 dead include 1 US servicewoman. 15 injured, including 4 Americans. Responsible: Organization of Jihad Brigades.

6/28/88 Greece: Defense Attaché of the U.S. Embassy killed when a car-bomb detonated outside his home in Athens. Responsibility: ?

7/23/88 US mistakenly shoots down an Iranian Airbus, killing 290.

12/21/88 Scotland: Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie. 270 Dead. Responsible: 2 Libyan intelligence officers, Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al- Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah indicted in Scotland and the US, for conspiracy, murder and violation of the Aviation Security Act of 1982. After ten years of negotiation, Libya handed them over for trial in a neutral country. Pan Am Airlines was convicted of "willful misconduct."[56]

1989 USSR leaves Afghanistan; Muslim jihad is victorious. Taliban and Northern Alliance battle for the country; in 1996 the Taliban enter Kabul.

1/27/89 Turkey: 3 simulaneous bombings of US businesses in Istanbul and Ankara. Responsible: Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left).[57]

2/1989 Ayatollah Khomeini issues fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his book. It was confirmed by Khomeini's successor in Dec., 1990, and renewed in February, 2003.

3/6/89 Egypt: 2 bombings of American and British Cultural Centers foiled. 3 revolutionary groups blamed.[58]

6/12/89 Turkey: US consul boat bombed in Bosporus Straits; no injuries. "Warriors of June 16th Movement" claimed responsibility.[59]

6/30/89 Sudan: Omar Hassan al-Bashir seizes power with aid of an Islamic National Front party headed by Hassan Al-Turabi.

9/19/89 Bombing of UTA Flight 772, Brazzaville to Paris. A bomb destroyed the airliner over the Sahara Desert in southern Niger. Killed: all 170 persons aboard. 6 Libyans found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.

10/11/89 Turkey: Bombing outside US military PX. Responsible: Dev Sol.[60]

1/90 Peru: US Embassy in Lima bombed

12/10/90 Iraq: Saddam Hussein releases 100 of the hostages held since the Kuwait invasion of 8/2.

1/18/91 Philippines: Bombs placed at Ambassador's Residence in Manila and at the USIS library in Manila. Responsibility: Iraqi agents..

2/7/91 Turkey: US Civilian contractor killed by Dev Sol at his car at Incirlik Air Base.[61]

2/28/91 Turkey: US Air Force Officer shot, wounded in Izmir.[62]

3/28/91 Saudi Arabia: attempted shooting of 3 US Marines at Jubial. [63]

10/28/91 Turkey: Car bomb kills 1 American serviceman; wounds his wife. Responsible: Islamic Jihad.[64]

10/28/91 Turkey: 2 car bombs kill 1 American in Ankara. Responsible: Islamic Jihad.[65]

10/30/91 Middle East Peace Conference opens in Spain. Israel and Palestine talk for first time in 43 years.[66]

11/8/91 Lebanon: 100 kg. Car bomb destroys the administration building of American University in Beirut.[67]

3/17/92 Argentina: Hizbollah bombs Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. 29 dead, 242 wounded.

1992 Yemen: Movenpick Hotel in Aden bombed. Within hours, US personnel were airlifted from Aden; Bin Laden won this first skirmish.[68]

10/21/92 Egypt: British female tourist shot during Islamic terrorist attack at Beirut, Egypt.[69]

1/25/93 US: Pakistani gunman kills 2 CIA employees, wounds 3, in Virginia.

2/26/93 Egypt: bomb at Café in Cairo kills 3, wounds 18, incl. 2 Americans. Responsible: ? [70]

2/26/93 World Trade Center bombed; 6 killed. Responsibility: Eyad Ismoil and Ramzi Yousef et al, convicted. 6 dead, over 1000 wounded. Bomb plot against UN foiled. The attackers were followers of Umar Abd al-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who preached in Brooklyn.[71]

4/14/93 Attempted assassination of ex-President Bush by Iraqi intelligence service agents in Kuwait. The U.S. launched a cruise missile attack 2 months later on Baghdad.

7/5/93 Turkey: 8 separate incidents: Kurdistan Workers Party kidnaps 19 western tourists; released after several weeks.[72]

9/9/93 Oslo "Peace Process"; Arafat and Rabin exchange letters; Arafat recognizes Israel. From this date until 12/2003, over 1300 Israelis are killed by Palestinian attacks. The number killed in the 5 years after Oslo was greater than the 15 years preceding it.[73]

10/4/93 Somalia: Mogadishu attacks kill 18 US servicemen. This was a UN operation to take arrest members of a faction led by General Muhammad Aideed. In 3/94, UN withdrew. Bin Laden cited this in his 1996 declaration of war as an example of US weakness. The US military was subordinated to UN command, and did not respond as required.

12/1/93 Israel: Yitzhak Weinstock, 19, family from Los Angeles CA, killed by Hamas in drive-by shooting.[74]

[4/6/94 Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimana, and Burundian president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, killed when a Falcon 50 was hit by a missile on approach to Kigali. They were returning from a meeting in Tanzania on setting up a transitional government in Rwanda. The inclusion of the Tutsi-dominated RPF enraged Hutu extremists. The death of Hutu President Habyarimana triggered genocide that ended in 7/94.][75]

6/18/94 Argentina: A Jewish community center bombed; 95 dead.

6/19/94 Panamanian commuter jet bombed; 21 dead. Responsible: Hizbollah?[76]

10/9/94 Israel: Nachson Wachsman, 19, family from New York, murdered by Hamas.[77]

10/9/94 Israel. Shooting attack on cafe-goers in Jerusalem. U.S. citizens Scot Doberstein and Eric Goldberg injured.[78]

12/11/94 Bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Cebu to Tokyo. 1 passenger killed. Ramzi Yousef-of World Trade Center fame- put a micro-bomb built from a watch under seat 27F as a test. He deplaned in Cebu. He planned to bomb 12 airliners flying the Pacific. He was arrested a month later in Pakistan. The plot was linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, working in Manila. He was captured 3/1/03 in Pakistan.[79]

12/24/94 Air France Hijacking.: Armed Islamic militants seized an Air France Flight to Algeria. The 4 terrorists were killed during a rescue effort.

3/8/95 Pakistan: 2 American Diplomats gunned down in Karachi; 1 wounded. The gunmen were unidentified.

4/9/95 Israel: 2 suicide attacks kill 8, including 1 American.[80]

7/4/95 India: 6 foreigners, including 2 U.S. citizens, were taken hostage by Al-Faran, a Kashmiri separatist group. 1 non-U.S. hostage was later found beheaded.

7/4/95 India. In Kashmir, an unknown militant group, Al-Faran, took hostage 6 tourists, including 2 Americans. One of the U.S. citizens escaped on 7/8, while on 8/13 the decapitated body of a Norwegian was found with a note that the others would be killed if the demands were not met. India refused. The rest of the hostages were most likely killed in 1996.

7/25/95 France: Bomb attack on Paris Metro, St. Michel Station. 8 dead, over 80 injured. Responsibility: Algerian Armed Islamic Group, connected to Al Qaeda. Two men were convicted of a string of attacks in France.[81]

8/95 Turkey: bombing of public square injures 2 Americans.[82]

8/21/95 Israel: Jerusalem Bus Attack. A bomb killed 4 and injured over 100, including several U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility.

11/4/95 Israel: Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin assassinated by a right- wing Jew, Yigal Amir.

11/9/95 Algeria: US Embassy warehouse set afire. Responsible" Armed Islamic Group.[83]

11/13/95 Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Military Compound bombed; 1 American, others dead. Responsibility: The Islamic Movement of Change.[84]

11/19/95 Pakistan: Egyptian Embassy suicide car-bombing. Dead: at least 16; 60 injured. 3 militant Islamic groups claimed responsibility.

2/15/1996 Greece: US Embassy in Athens hit by rocket. Probably the November 17 group.

2/25/96 Israel: Suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem killed 26, including 3 U.S. citizens, and injured some 80 others, including 3 Americans. Responsibility: Hamas.

3/4/96 Israel: Dizengoff Center Bombing, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall. Killed 20, injured 75, including 2 Americans. Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

5/13/96 Israel: On the West Bank, Arab gunmen fire on a bus and a group of Yeshiva students near the Bet El settlement, killing a dual U.S./Israeli citizen and wounding 3 Israelis. Responsibility: Hamas.

5/1996 Osama bin Laden goes to Afghanistan.

6/9/96 Israel: Unidentified gunmen fire on a car near Zekharya, killing a dual U.S./Israeli citizen and an Israeli. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was suspected.[85]

6/25/96 Saudi Arabia: Bombing of the Khobar Towers military facility in Dharan. A Hizballah truck bomb killed 19 Americans, wounds hundreds. Responsibility: Osama bin Laden and Saudi Hizballah, aided by Iran. Brig. Gen. Terryl J. Schwailer, 4404th Wing Commander was disciplined. No US military response. On 6/21/01 a US Grand Jury indicted 14 members of Hizballah group. The indictment details the group and its relationship to Iran and Syria, including the location of its meetings in Syria.[86] The indictment shows that the US has more than enough information to destroy the group's support by military means. (The bombing was 2 days after an Arab League summit meeting called for continued sanctions against Iraq.)[87]

[7/17/96 TWA Flight 800, NY to Paris, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Atlantic off New York. 230 passengers and crew killed. Wreckage was retrieved, and re-assembled.[88] Witness claim to have seen a missile, which the government denies. The cause remains controversial.[89]]

8/17/96 Sudan: Sudan People's Liberation Army kidnaps 6 missionaries (1 American); releases 8/28/.[90]

8/23/96 Bin Laden's Declaration of War published. This followed a meeting beginning 7/19/96, where representatives of every fundamentalist group, from every major Muslim sect and nation, declared unity against "Zionists and Crusaders."[91]

9/1996 Taliban ("religious students") enter Kabul. They are Sunni Muslims, educated in madrasas (religious schools) derived from Deobandi thought, a traditional form of Islam that began in Deoband, India in 1867 as an opposition to the British. The schools, financed by the Saudis and others, expanded into Pakistan. The Taliban oppose minority sects, such as Shiism, and are enemies of the Iranian theocracy. But like the Iranians, they are fanatically anti-western.

11/23/96 Hijacked airliner ditches into the sea. Flight ET961, Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, was hijacked by Ethiopian nationals seeking asylum in Australia. 125 of 175 died.

12/3/96 France: Bomb on subway train kills 4, injures 86.[92]

1/2 - 1/13/97 Sixteen letter bombs disguised as holiday greeting cards arrived via mail at Al-Hayat newspaper bureaus in Washington, New York City, London, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 3 similar devices, also postmarked in Egypt, were found at a prison facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. They all had postmarks of 12/21/96 from Alexandria, Egypt. 1 exploded in London, injuring 2.[93]

2/23/97 Palestinian terrorist shoots tourists on Empire State Building Observation Tower. 1 Danish national killed; Americans, Argentina, Swiss, and French wounded. Ended in suicide. A note carried by the gunman targeted "enemies of Palestine."

7/30/97 Israel: Bombing in Jerusalem market kills 15 (1 American), wounds 168. Hamas claimed responsibility.[94]

9/4/97 Israel: Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem. 3 Hamas suicide bombers killed 5 and wounded nearly 200. 1 U.S./Israeli citizen died, and 7 Americans wounded.

10/8/1997 Iranian resistance group Mujahideen-e Khalq MKO declared a terrorist organization by US State Dept. 9/16/98: 220 US Congressmen sign a statement condemning Iran, and calling for support for MKO. 7/1/99: 130 Congressmen sign a letter in support of MKO. The US bombed the group's positions during the 2003 offensive into Iraq.

10/30/97 Yemen: Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a U.S. businessman near Sanaa. They wanted the release of two fellow tribesmen. They released the hostage on 11/27.

11/12/97 Pakistan: 2 gunmen murdered 4 American auditors from Union Texas Petroleum Corp. and their Pakistani driver near the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. The Islamic Revolutionary Council claimed responsibility in a call to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. In a letter to Pakistani newspapers, the Aimal Khufia Action Committee also claimed responsibility.

11/17/97 Egypt: Luxor, 58 Tourists (68 total) massacred. Responsibility probably belongs to Gamaat-al-Islamiya, "Islamic Jihad," connected to Al Qaeda. In 1998 a member, Mohamed Abid Abdel Aal, was extradited to Egypt from Ecuador. Ayman al-Zawahiri (sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt 1999, and hiding in Afghanistan, mentor to Osama bin Laden) was likely the leader. Shayk Omar Abdel Rahmann, spiritual advisor to Islamic Jihad, issued a fatwa sanctioning the killings. He had been exiled to the US from Egypt, implicated in the 1993 WTC bombing, and imprisoned for other bombings.

In October 1997 a major terrorist meeting was held in Tehran, with over 20 Islamic and a few non-Muslim groups. A campaign of attacks was planned. "The Tehran summit also decided to use non-Iranian Islamist organs as the mouthpieces for the new campaign to give it a pan-Islamic character." Al- Zawahiri's Jihad Group issued a communiqué calling for jihad against the US and Israel: "The United States realizes that its real enemy, as it has declared many times, is Islamic extremism, by which it means the Islamic Jihad, the Jihad of the entire Muslim nation against the world dominance of America, the international influence of the Jews, and the US occupation of Muslim lands."[95]

11/25/97 Yemen. 5 westerners kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen, released 11/27.[96]

4/15/98 Somalia: Somali militiamen abducted 9 aid workers, including 1 American, north of Mogadishu. The hostages included 1 U.S. citizen. The gunmen were loyal to Ali Mahdi Mohammed, who controlled the northern section of Mogadishu.

4/19/98 Israel: 1 Israeli / American killed on West Bank. Responsible: a Fatah group.[97]

5/9/98 Bon Laden's statement for jihad against America.

5/28/98 Pakistan tests nuclear weapons.

6/21/98 Lebanon: Bombing of US embassy in Beirut. No casualties.[98]

8/7/98 Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Simultaneous bombings of 2 US Embassies. Responsibility: bin Laden. In Tanzania there were 10 deaths and some 77 injuries. In Kenya, 213 deaths, including 12 Americans, and over 5,000 injuries. The US attacked an alleged chemical weapons plant in Sudan with 13 cruise missiles, resulting in 1 death, the night watchman. 3 training camps were attacked in Afghanistan with over 70 cruise missiles; some 24 killed. Bin Laden was indicted, but did not turn himself in. (Iraq had expelled weapons inspectors 2 days earlier.[99])

12/28/98 Yemen: 16 tourists kidnapped. Islamic Army of Aden Abyan, of Al-Jihad, demanded their leader's release from jail.[100]

10/19/99 Egypt Air Flight 838, Istanbul to Cairo, hijacked over Turkey; flies to Hamburg. Hijacker arrested after promise of Asylum.[101]

[10/31/99 Egypt Air Flight 990 crashes into the Atlantic off Nantucket. The last minutes of the flight were reconstructed from cockpit audio and data recorders. The NTSB concluded that the Relief First Officer shut the engines down and put the plane into a dive. He repeated "Tawakkalt Ala Allah," "I rely on God" multiple times, a phrase often said by Muslims that does not indicate the kind of stress associated with a terrorist act.[102]]

11/4/99 Greece. A group protesting President Clinton's visit bombed an American car dealership in Athens. Anti-State Action claimed responsibility, but the November 17 group was suspected.[103]

11/12/99 Pakistan: Rockets fired at US, UN offices in Islamabad. 1 injury.[104]

12/24/99 Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, Kathmandu to New Delhi, hijacked. Flew to Amritsar, India; Lahore, Pakistan; Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Islamic Salvation Front claimed responsibility, but the Taliban disavowed it. After 8 days, 154 hostages were released for 3 terrorist prisoners in India. In 2001 India issued multiple indictments against Pakistanis, and accused Pakistan and the Taliban.[105] Retired Indian Major General Afsir Karim said that rescue of the hostages at Amritsar was possible; "Every Israeli aircraft carries armed commandos who are disguised as passengers. These commandos are trained to take action during such situations. We don't have any such plan." [106] Al Qaeda claimed this as a success, according to the Times of India.[107]

1/3/00 Port of Aden, Yemen: Failed light-boat bomb attack on the USS Sullivans. US government does not know of this for over a year.[108]

9/29/00 Israel: Palestinian attack on motorists injures 1 American. [109]

10/5/00 Israel. Attack on US motorist. Rabbi Chaim Brovender of Brooklyn injured.

10/8/00 Israel. Nablus, West Bank. The bullet-ridden body of Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, a

U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, was found. No organization claimed responsibility.

10/12/00 Port of Aden, Yemen: USS Cole bombed by a suicide skiff. 17 killed, 39 wounded. No US military response by Presidents Clinton or Bush.

Nasser Ahmad Nasser Al-Bahri, AKA Abu Jandal, a Saudi, once bin Laden's bodyguard. Al-Bahri, arrested in 2001, was given amnesty by Yemen's President Ali Abdallah Saleh.

The US Department of State, Rewards for Justice program web site, states: "To bring to justice those responsible for this attack, the U.S. Government is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those persons who committed or aided in the attack on the USS Cole."[110] The attack is treated here as a criminal, not a military, matter.

10/30/00 Israel: gunmen kill an American in Jerusalem. Responsable: Fatah group, "Martyrs of Al-Aqsa Intimada."[111]

12/30/00 Philippines: US Embassy in Manila Bombing. A bomb in a plaza injured 9. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front was likely responsible.

12/31/00 Israel: Rabbi Kahane and wife, of Brooklyn, killed in shooting. 5 children injured.[112]

3/15/01 A Russian Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev 154 airliner hijacked by Chechens Muslims to Medina. Saudi Security Forces assault the plane; 1 hostage's throat slit by a hijacker, who was killed. 1 hostage inadvertently killed in the assault. 2 hijackers captured.[113]

5/9/01 Israel: 1 American - Israeli and friend found stoned to death in a cave on West Bank. Islamic Jihad and Hizballah-Palestine claimed responsibility.[114]

5/29/01 Israel: 6 killed in drive-by shooting, including 2 American- Israelis.[115]

6/1/01 Israel: Tel-Aviv Nightclub Bombing. Over 140 casualties. Hamas claimed responsibility

8/9/01 Israel: Sbarro's Restaurant Bombing. A Hamas-planted bomb in a Jerusalem pizza restaurant killed 15 (2 Americans) and wounded over 90. The Israeli response included occupation of Orient House, the Palestine Liberation Organization's political headquarters in East Jerusalem.[116]

8/18/01 Israel: Bus shooting wounds 1 American.[117]

8/27/01 Israel: shooting wounds 1 American.[118]

9/9/01 Israel: Suicide Bombing. The first suicide bombing by an Israeli Arab killed 3 in Nahariya. Hamas claimed responsibility.

9/11/01: World Trade Center destroyed; attack on Pentagon; four US airliners hijacked. Nearly 3000 dead. US military response: overthrow of Taliban Government in Afghanistan. On 10/7/01 the US launched Operation Enduring Freedom, air strikes against Taliban

10/05/01 Bob Stevens, first victim of Anthrax poisoning in America. Total: 6 dead.

10/28/01 Pakistan: 17 killed in attack on Christian church in Bahawalpur. Responsible: probably a Sunni organisation, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

11/4/01 Israel: Teenager from Queens. NY killed shooting; 1 American injured.[119]

11/12/01 American Airlines flight 587, an Airbus A-300, New York to the Dominican Republic, crashed into Belle Harbor, New York. 265 dead. The NTSB report said the crash was caused by catastrophic failure of the vertical stabilizer. The possibility exists that Richard Reid, the shoebomber of 12/22/01, was following the procedures used on AA587, lighting the bomb in his seat rather than the lavatory in order to cause catastrophic failure. [120]

12/2/01 Israel: Bomb in Jerusalem injures 4 American citizens.[121]

12/18/01 Israel: shooting wounds 2 US citizens.[122]

12/22/01 Attempted bombing of American Airlines Flight 63, Paris to Miami. Richard Reid, a British Muslim, tried to explode a bomb concealed in his sneakers. Reid pleaded guilty in Federal Court, and was sentenced to life plus 30 years.[123]

1/3/02 The Karine-A affair. 50 tons of weapons seized by Israeli commandos, destined for Palestinian militants. Weapons purchased from Iran by Arafat. The incident proved collaboration between Iranian Shiites, Hizbollah Sunnis, and Iraqis. The previous May, Israelis seized a smaller ship, the Santorini, with about a ton of weapons. In May of 2003, a fishing boat with detonators and computer disks on making weapons was seized, along with an explosive expert from Hizbollah, Hamu Abu Amar.[124]

1/15/02 Israel: 1 Israeli-American kidnapped at checkpoint, murdered.[125]

1/18/02 Israel: American shot in Hadera.[126]

1/23/02 Kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistani authorities received a videotape on February 20 of Pearl's murder. His grave was found near Karachi on May 16. Pakistani authorities arrested four suspects. Ringleader Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh claimed to have organized Pearl's kidnapping to protest Pakistan's subservience to the United States, and had belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad, an Islamic separatist group in Kashmir. Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death on July 15, the others to life imprisonment.[127]

1/27/02 Israel: Explosion in Jerusalem by Palestinian woman killed 1 Israeli, injured over 150. Injured included American Mark Sokolow (and his wife and 2 daughters), who had escaped from the 38th floor of the WTC South Tower on 9/11/ before it collapsed.[128]

2/15/02 Israel: West Bank, American Lee Akunis shot to death.[129]

2/16/02 Israel: Suicide Bombing in an outdoor food court in Karmei Shomron killed 4, wounded 27. 2 dead and 2 wounded Americans. The PFLP claimed responsibility.[130]

2/25/02 Israel: Moran Abit stabbed to death in Abu Tor Peace Forest in Jerusalem.[131]

3/17/02 Pakistan. Militants threw grenades into the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, during a service. 5 dead, 2 of them Americans, killed and 46 wounded. 13 Americans wounded. The Lashkar-e-Tayyiba group was suspected.

3/20/02 Peru: Car bombing at US Embassy in Lima, intended to deter visit by US President Bush. Responsible: Shining Path group.[132]

3/21/02 Israel: A suicide bombing in Jerusalem killed 3 and wounded 86, including 2 U.S. citizens. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

3/27/02 Israel. A suicide bombing in a restaurant in Netanya, killed 22 and wounded 140, including an American. Hamas claimed responsibility.

3/30/02 Kashmir, Temple Bombing: A bomb explosion in Jammu, Kashmir, killed 10. The Islamic Front claimed responsibility.

3/31/02 Israel. A suicide bombing near an ambulance station in Efrat wounded 4 persons, including an American. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.

4/11/02 Tunisia: Suicide bomber Nizar Nawar detonated a propane gas truck outside a synagogue in Djerba. 19 dead, some 26 injured. Financing was by Al Qaeda, specifically Khalid Sheikh Muhammed.[133]

4/12/02 Israel: A female suicide bomber killed 6 in Jerusalem and wounded 90. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.

5/08/02 Pakistan: Bomb in Karachi kills 12, wounds 19. 11 of the dead and 11 of the wounded were French nationals. Al-Qaida suspected.

6/10/02 Indonesia: Car bombing in Jakarta.[134]

6/14/02 Pakistan: US Consulate and Marriott Hotel bombed in Karachi. 11 killed, 51 injured.[135] Al Qaida and al-Qanin were suspected.

6/19/02 Israel. Suicide Bombing at a bus stop in Jerusalem killed 6 and wounded 43, including 2 Americans. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.

7/4/02 Los Angeles: Egyptian limousine driver Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, who lived in Irvine, opened fire at the Israeli El Al ticket counter. He was killed by El Al security guards. US denies it was "terrorist."[136]

7/19/02 India: Two blasts near town of Godhra.

7/31/02 Israel: A bomb hidden in a bag in the Frank Sinatra International Student Center of Jerusalem's Hebrew University kills 9, including 5 Americans. 87 wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility.

8/20/02 Indonesia: 3 blasts in Jakarta

10/6/02 Attack on a French Tanker. An explosive-laden boat rammed the French oil tanker Limburg, anchored off al-Dhabbah, Yemen. 1 killed, 4 wounded. Al-Qaida suspected. On 8/27/04, 15 Yemenis were convicted of the attack, and other crimes.[137]

10/12/02 Indonesia: Bali Nightclub and US Consulate bombings. A car bomb exploded outside the Sari Club Discotheque in Denpasar, killing 202 and wounding 300. 7 Americans died. Responsibility: the regional Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, linked to al-Qaeda. Iman Samudra, who trained in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda, sentenced to death on 9/10/03.

11/17/02 Hijacking of El Al Flight 581, Boeing 757 Tel Aviv to Istanbul, foiled by Sky Marshals.[138]

11/24/02 Kenya. A three-person suicide car bomb attack on the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, killed 15 and wounded 40. Near Mombasa's airport, two SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles fired at an Arkia Airlines Boeing 757 carrying 261 passengers to Israel. Both missiles missed. Al-Qaida, the Government of Universal Palestine in Exile, and the Army of Palestine claimed responsibility. Al-Ittihad al-Islami also suspected.

12/26/02 Philippines. Militants ambushed a bus carrying Filipino workers in Zamboanga del Norte. 13 killed, 10 wounded. Philippine authorities suspected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had been extorting money from the company, Toronto Ventures. The Catholic charity Caritas- Philippines said that Toronto Ventures had harassed tribesmen who opposed mining on their ancestral lands.

1/5/03 Israel. Two suicide bombers killed 22 and wounded at least 100 in Tel Aviv. 6 victims were foreign workers. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.

2/8/03 Iraq. Members of Ansar al-Islam assassinated Kurdish legislator Shawkat Haji Mushir and captured two other Kurdish officials in Qamash Tapa.

3/5/03 Israel. Suicide bombing on a bus in Haifa, killed 15 and wounded at least 40. One of the dead claimed U.S. as well as Israeli citizenship.

5/19/03 Israel. Suicide Bombing by a female Palestinian student killed 3 and wounded 52 at a shopping mall. Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.

3/16/03 Second Gulf War begins.

4/30/03 Israel: 1 American injured in Tel Aviv pub bombing.[139]

5/12/03 Saudi Arabia: Bombing of residential facilities in Riyadh. 35 killed included 9 Americans. Over 200 injured. Saudis arrested 11 al-Qaida suspects on May 28.

5/16/03 Morocco: Suicide Bombings in Casablanca. 12 suicide bombers attacked 5 targets in Casablanca, killing 43 and wounding 100. The targets were a Spanish restaurant, a Jewish community, a Jewish cemetery, a hotel, and the Belgian Consulate. The Moroccan Government blamed the Islamist al-Assirat al- Moustaquim (The Righteous Path), but it was probably the same Al Qaeda cell that would bomb Spanish rails in 3/04.[140]

5/18/03 Israel. A suicide bomb attack on a bus in Jerusalem's French Hill district killed 7 and wounded 20. The bomber was disguised as a religious Jew. Hamas claimed responsibility

6/11/03 Israel: Jerusalem bus bombing killed 1 American, injured 1. [141]

6/20/03 Israel: West Bank shooting killed 1 American, injured 3. [142]

8/12/03 Israel. The first suicide bombings since the June 29 Israeli-Palestinian truce. The first, in a supermarket at Rosh Haayin, Israel, killed 1 and wounded 14. The second, at a bus stop near the Ariel settlement, killed 1 and wounded 3. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the first; HAMAS claimed responsibility for the second.

8/19/03 Iraq. Bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. A truck loaded with surplus Iraqi ordnance exploded outside the Canal Hotel. A hospital across the street was damaged. 23 dead included UN Representative Sergio Viera de Mello. More than 100 wounded. The UN pulled out of Iraq, An al-Qaeda branch called the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri later claimed responsibility.

8/19/03 Israel. A suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem killed 21 and injured at least 100. 5 of the dead were Americans. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

8/29/03 Iraq. A car bomb at the Shrine of the Imam Ali in Najaf killed at least 81 and wounded at least 140. The dead included the Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim, who had been leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq since its establishment in 1982. SCIRI had agreed to work with the Iraqi Governing Council. It was un known whether the attackers were Baath Party loyalists, rival Shiites, or foreigners.

9/9/03 Israel. 2 suicide bombings: The first, at a bus stop, killed 7 and wounded 14. The second, at a café in Jerusalem's German Colony neighborhood, killed 6 (2 Americans), wounded 40. A Hamas spokesman called the first attack" a response to Israeli aggression."

8/5/03 Indonesia, A car bomb in Jakarta killed 10 and wounded 150, including an American. Responsibility: probably Jemaah Islamiah, who did the 10/12/02 bombing in Bali.

8/7/03 Iraq. Bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. A car bomb killed 19 and wounded 65. Most of the victims were. No group claimed responsibility.

9/20/03 Iraq. Assassination of an Iraqi Governing Council Member. Gunmen wounded Akila Hashimi near her home in Baghdad. She died September 25.

9/22/03 Second Attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. A suicide car bomb killed a security guard and wounded 19 others.

9/25/03 Iran: International Atomic Energy Agency finds enriched uranium traces at Kalaye Electric Company near Tehran.

10/4/03 Israel. A Palestinian woman's suicide bomb attack in Haifa killed 19 and wounded at least 55. Responsible: Islamic Jihad. Israel bombed a training camp in Syria.

10/9/03 Iraq, October 9, 2003: Gunmen assassinated a Spanish military attaché in Baghdad. A suicide car bomb attack on an Iraqi police station killed 8 persons and wounded 40.

10/12/03 Car Bombings in Baghdad. Two suicide car bombs outside the Baghdad Hotel. 6 killed and 32 wounded.

10/15/03 Gaza Strip. A remote-controlled bomb exploded under a U.S. diplomatic convoy. 3 security guards killed; 1 wounded. They were on their way to interview Palestinian candidates for Fulbright scholarships in the US. Arafat condemned the attack; Palestinian militant groups denied responsibility. Palestinian forces arrested several suspects.

10/26/03 Iraq. A rocket launcher killed 1 U.S. Army officer and wounded 17, including 11 Americans, at the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, at the hotel, was not injured. After visiting the wounded, he said, "They're not going to scare us away; we're not giving up on this job."

10/26/03 Iraq. Assassination of a Deputy Mayor in Baghdad. Two gunmen believed to be Baath Party loyalists assassinated Faris Abdul Razaq al- Assam.

10/27/03 Iraq. A Wave of suicide car bombings in Baghdad killed at least 35 and wounded at least 230. 4 were directed at police stations, the 5th at the International Red Cross headquarters, where at least 12 persons were killed. A 6th attack failed, the bomber was wounded and captured. The captured bomber was a Syrian national and carried a Syrian passport.

11/8/03 Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, a suicide car bombing in the Muhaya residential compound killed 17 and wounded 122, including 4 Americans. Al-Qaeda was probably responsible.

11/12/03 Iraq. A suicide truck bomb destroyed the Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, killing 18 Italians and 11 Iraqis, and wounding at least 100.

11/15/03 Turkey. 2 Synagogue Bombings in Istanbul killed 25 and wounded at least 300. A Turkish militant group, the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, claimed responsibility. The next day, the newspaper al-Quds al- Arabi received an e-mail; an al-Qaeda branch called the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri claimed responsibility.

11/20/03 Turkey. 2 suicide truck bombings devastated the British HSBC Bank and the British Consulate General in Istanbul, killing 27 and wounding at least 450. The dead included Consul General Roger Short. Responsibility: al-Qaeda?

11/20/03 Iraq. A suicide car bombing in Kirkuk killed 5. Patriotic Union of Kurdistan officials suspected the Ansar al-Islam group, which may have sheltered Taliban and al-Qaeda members after the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.

11/29-11/30/03 Iraq. On 11/29, Iraqi insurgents in Mahmudiyah killed 7 out of a party of 8 Spanish intelligence officers. 2 Japanese diplomats killed near Tikrit. On 11/30, an ambush near Tikrit killed 2 South Korean electrical workers and wounded 2. A Colombian employee of Kellogg Brown & Root was killed and 2 were wounded in an ambush near Balad.

12/15/03 Iraq. 2 days after the capture of Saddam Hussein, 2 suicide car bomb attacks on police stations. 1 at Husainiyah killed 8 and wounded 20. 1 at Ameriyah, wounded 7 Iraqis.

12/19/03 Iraq. A bomb destroyed the Baghdad office of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution, killing a woman and wounding at least 7 others.

12/24/03 Iraq. A suicide car bomb attack on the Kurdish Interior Ministry in Irbil killed 5 and wounded 101.

12/25/03 Pakistan. 2 suicide truck bombers killed 14 as President Musharraf's motorcade passed through Rawalpindi. An attempt on 12/14 failed. Pakistani officials arrested 6 members of Jaish-e-Muhammad (Afghan and Kashmiri militants).

12/31/03 Iraq. A car bomb outside Baghdad's Nabil Restaurant killed 8 and wounded 35. The wounded included 3 Los Angeles Times reporters.

1/15/04 Pakistan: Two bombings in Karachi wound 13.[143]

3/11/04 Spain: 3 Major bombings of railroads. Over 200 dead, 1400 injured. Two days later, the Socialist Party won the Spanish elections. Spanish troops were removed from Iraq on 4/20, after taking office on 4/17. Responsible: Three Moroccans arrested: Jamal Zougam, Mohammed Bekkali and Mohammed Chaoui. Probably part of the Al Oussououd Al Khalidine ("The Eternal Lions"), a group connected to the Salafiya Jihadiya network and Al Qaeda. See the 5/16/03 Casablanca bombing. Al Qaeda influenced an election.

3/14/04 Israel: Suicide bomber in Ashdod kills 10 Israelis. Israel, over next few weeks, kills Hamas leaders Sheikh ahmed Yassin and Aziz Rantisi. The next suicide bombing occurs August 11.

3/31/04 Iraq: 4 American security guards killed in Fallujah, mutilated and dragged through the streets. Start of uprising by Iranian-backed cleric Al Sadr, with a militia. US military response restrained. Over the next few months, the US negotiates, grants truces. The attacks continue.

4/21/04 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Suicide car bombing of security building. Responsibility claimed by Al Haramain Brigades, linked to Al Qaeda.

4/26/04 2 US troops killed in Baghdad ambush; Iraqi teenagers loot and burn US Humvees.

4/27/04 Syria. 4 gunmen detonated a bomb under a car and fired bullets and grenades at Syrian security forces. Syrian President Assad said that violence in Iraq was legitimate resistance to US terrorism.[144]

4/29/04 Iraq: After weeks of being surrounded by the American army, an Iraqi army is appointed to control Fallujah. An officer under Saddam Hussein will head the force. The US releases an anti-American cleric, Sheik Jamal Shaker Nazzal. Elsewhere in Iraq, 8 US soldiers killed near the town of Mahmudiyah, by a car bomb.

5/1/04 Saudi Arabia: gunmen attack the ABB Lummus Global oil engineering office in Yanbu. Killed included 2 Brits, 2 Americans and 1 Australian.[145]

5/2/04 A pregnant woman and 4 children murdered in Gaza. Israelis kill 4 Hamas militants in air raids. On 5/18/04, Israel demolished the home of Ibrahim Ahmed, an Islamic Jihad militant blamed for the killings.[146]

5/5/04 Greece: 3 bombs explode in Athens.[147]

5/9/04 Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov assassinated; Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility. "We apologize to the president of the Chechen republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov, for being unable to literally throw Kadyrov's head at his feet as we promised a month ago," Basayev said.[148]

5/11/04 Iraq: American citizen Nick Berg beheaded by Al Qaeda group. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls it retaliation for prisoner abuse scandal. Over the past several weeks, photos of Iraqi prisoners, abused by US Servicemen in Iraq jail, made public. US began public investigation and courts-martial.

5/17/04 Iraq: Head of Iraqi Governing Council Abdel-Zahraa Othman, AKA Izzadine Saleem, assassinated by suicide bombing. Responsibility claimed by "Arab Resistance Movement."[149]

5/29/04 Saudi Arabia: Al Qaeda raid in Khobar kills 16, including at least 1 American.[150]

6/22/04 Iraq: Korean citizen Kim Sun-il beheaded by group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.[151]

7/11/04 Israel: An explosion near a Tel Aviv bus station killed an Israeli soldier and wounded 30 people. The explosion was the first bomb attack in a month. Israel's fence, and increased security measures, reduced such attacks.

8/11/04 Israel: Suicide car bomb explodes at the Kalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. 1 Palestinian killed; 7 Israelis wounded. The Fatah Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. This was the first suicide bombing against Israel since March 14 in Ashdod (10 Israelis killed), following the killings of the heads of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Aziz Rantisi. The main attackers out of Ramallah are Hamas, led by Ibraim Hamed, and the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades run out of the Mukata headquarters under Arafat.[152]

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