Worldwide Coordinated Effort is Needed to Combat Rise in Terrorist Activities, Say Experts in the Fi

Experts in the field of international terrorism maintained here that there is a growing need for a worldwide coordinated effort to combat the rise in terrorist attacks. They differed, however, on whether such activities could be implemented on an international scale and whether they would be effective.

The experts appeared at a news conference sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, held to make a year-end evaluation of the status of international terrorism and assess prospects for 1986.

“There must be a coordinated response because we are confronting an international terrorism network,” said Yoram Dinstein, professor of law at Tel Aviv University and visiting professor of law at New York University. “Nations are mistaken if they think they can cope by themselves, and the United States realizes or ought to realize this.”

In addition, also advocating internationally coordinated efforts to combat terrorism were Dr. Yonah Alexander, director of the Institute for International Terrorism at the State University of New York, and Dr. Eric Willenz, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

According to Willenz, the basic elements involved in combating terrorism are not in place. He said terrorists act with impunity in nations that lack sufficient strength to enforce domestic laws. “Terrorists act on weaknesses,” he said.

But, he said, an “internationally coordinated effort would engage the international community against terrorist acts and thereby lessen the burden of any one country to take this action.”

1985 MAY BE ‘YEAR OF THE TERRORIST’

Willenz, a former member of a State Department unit involved in counter-intelligence against terrorism, advocated an international anti-terrorist task force under the aegies of the United Nations. But he emphasized that Third World nations must be involved because “the Third World is the fulcrum of most terrorism activities.”

Alexander, meanwhile, warned that 1985 may be the “year of the terrorist” because of the high number of terrorist incidents worldwide. He urged the establishment of “an international commando unit by likeminded democratic states” including the United States and other West European nations. “Otherwise the world will remain hostage to these blackmailers,” said Alexander, a senior research member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University.

According to Alexander, from January 1985 to September 1985, there were at least 2,265 terrorist incidents worldwide, resulting in 4,906 deaths and 3,901 wounded. The year 1985, he said “may go down as the bloodiest ever when all the statistics are counted.”

The view of increased terrorism is shared by a recently released study saying terrorism is expected to continue increasing worldwide. “The trajectory is upward,” said Brain Jenkins, a consultant for the Rand Corporation, who recently published a study on the topic. “Terrorism has become bloodier and we will see an increasing number of large scale, indiscriminate attacks,” he said.

The State Department said there were 600 terrorist incidents worldwide in 1984, an increase of 20 percent in five years. In the first months of this year, there were 570 incidents, an increase of 35 percent. About 35 percent of the world’s terrorist incidents take place in the Middle East, according to the State Department.

WORLD TERRORISM WILL SOON REACH U.S. SHORES

Dinstein, in calling for cooperation between law enforcement officials worldwide, said “we simply have not taken the first step.” He said that while nations have coordinated against international hijackings, there remains no uniform extradition agreement for terrorists.

The panelists agreed there has been a drop in domestic terrorism in the U.S., although it was noted that Americans travelling or living abroad are subjected to greater threats. According to another participant at the news conference, Tom Sheer, deputy assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, the number of terrorist incidents in the U.S. has dropped “dramatically.”

Sheer said that in 1982 there were 51 terrorist incidents compared to seven recorded thus far in 1985. He added that 63 persons across the country are in prisons either awaiting trial on charges of terrorist activities or have already been convicted on such charges. Sheer warned, however, “international terrorism will soon breach our shores.”