Word: ranstorp
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...last September, nearly 3,000 people suspected of involvement in al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups have been arrested. European governments--some of which were aggressively dismissive of the terrorist threat a year ago--are now actively involved in the crackdown. They've done a "fantastic job," says Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism analyst at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, "unearthing cells, sharing intelligence, doing pre-emptive arrests and raids." An American diplomat in Europe adds that law-enforcement authorities in Southeast Asia are cooperating with the U.S. far more than before. "The effort worldwide and in Afghanistan...
Sounds great--until you hear Ranstorp estimate that for every terrorist suspect detained worldwide, nine may be at large. And paradoxically, the destruction of the camps has, in a sense, made investigators' jobs more difficult. When the U.S. decided to bomb the camps, they were a big fat target; now American and allied forces have to hunt down terrorists, not by the score, but one or two at a time. Hence the conclusion of Steven Simon, who worked on counterterrorism in the Clinton White House: "On the whole, they're better off without Afghanistan. They now have total global mobility...
...RAND, religious conviction is what gives terrorists strength, but "the armed struggle is what holds them together." If there are terrorism analysts anywhere in the world who think the armed struggle is over, they are keeping mighty quiet. Al-Qaeda "would love to pull off a spectacular," says Ranstorp, using the terrorism watchers' term for a large-scale attack, "but they will be exceptionally patient." At the end of a good week, the question for the U.S and its allies is whether they will be as patient as their enemy. --With reporting by Brian Bennett/Karachi; Douglas Waller, Elaine Shannon, John...
...Algerians detained in Bosnia, whom Americans suspect of being part of an al-Qaeda sleeper cell, were handed over to U.S. authorities. Elsewhere in Europe, Algerian extremists have taken a leading role in some operational cells and have also developed expertise in support activities. According to Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at Scotland's St. Andrews University, Algerian extremists have specialized in credit-card fraud, forged checks and false documentation. They have, he says, "become masters of support activity, providing safe houses, money and documentation to enable groups to launch terrorist acts...
Moderate Muslim leaders scoff at Butt as a self-publicist. But Zaki Badawi, principal of London's Muslim College, warns that "the idea that you can cut off the head of al-Qaeda and the body will wither is not going to happen." Ranstorp agrees. Though al-Qaeda's lair in Afghanistan may have been smashed, he says, "The snake has already laid a thousand eggs, which are hatching and slipping off in all directions." Foremost among them Britain...