Is we go to press, the world is waitattack clear that Islamic rulers' objective is to demonstrate their capacity for lessness, and to score some general political points based 1981. on that.
U.S. government spokespersons are increasingly hav- was a Egyptian ing to admit that in attacking Afghanistan they have little nope of miling the ferrorist networks that they accuse of responsibility for the Sept.
There is no evidence that even the Taliban, materially backs the constellation of groups Saudi Islamicist multimil- bers.
Bin Ladin Osama whom the U.S. accuses withMany proof of masterminding terrors alacks or "Islamicist" is a term used hand* to describe political currents that claim to want to build VASCU interpretation of Islamic religious law. They represent a small minority of Muslims Telesco in the world and are themselves divided by different political interests.
In the organisational and political vacuum left in the wake Afghanistan's ruinous civil war and the WaS in against occupation, the bliban may seck the help of groups their internal enemies. But they have neitner tae resources nor interest in supporting dants paigns.
All the available informaIslamic ton about bin Ladei's orga nization Al-Qaida indicates that it is a loose network of small conspiratorial groups scattered in as many as 34 None of the alleged highjackers have been linked to 888433 movement in the efficiently:" ing the so-called leader of the cell, Mohammad Atta, have been linked to the Egyptian the Islamic Jihad, which was involved in the assassination of the country's Sadat, in Following that event, there war sonnel. governmeat and Scitors! groups, lasting for more than a decade, which resulted in mainly of innocent civilians and Islamic activists themwere The prisons are still filled with their memmatter yman al-Zawahri, A cited widely region, and the big business ** * right. Bin Laden's the man, served three years in prison on charges of 93088 assassination. He left Egypt the 1980s after being In 1998, his organisation the Front for the Liberation of Islamic Holy in 1965. Places, a grouping appar- In In the same year, the Jihad accused of involvement wiped out the Chibasse Nairobi and DarEs Salaam, and became the target of a major repressive campaign by the Egyptian government.
Al-Zawahri most fort™ condemned death absentia as one of the defen of Islamic fundamentalists.
analysing the fundamentalist role before groups in the Sept. 14 issue of the Egyptian daily Middle 1986. East Times noted: "While some of these groupings do duit of aid to the not have a popular base, they