{
  "id": "98-722",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "98-722",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 105216,
      "date": "1998-08-27",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:52:13.949941",
      "title": "Terrorism: Middle Eastern Groups and State Sponsors, 1998",
      "summary": "During the 1980s and the early 1990s, Iran and terrorist groups it sponsors have been responsible\nfor\nthe most politically significant acts of Middle Eastern terrorism. In late 1997, signs began to appear\nthat major factions within Iran want to change Iran's image from a backer of terrorism to a\nconstructive force in the region. If this trend in Iran takes hold, there is a chance that state-sponsored\nMiddle Eastern terrorism will decline over time as Iran moves away from active opposition to the\nArab-Israeli peace process. \n  The Arab-Israeli peace process is a longstanding major U.S. foreign policy initiative, and the\nAdministration and Congress pay particularly close attention to terrorist groups and state sponsors\nthat oppose it. Islamist groups such as Hamas have largely displaced secular, nationalist groups as\nthe most active anti-peace process organizations. Hamas has become stronger politically since its\nfounder was released from an Israeli prison in October 1997, but acts of terrorism by Hamas and its\nallies have declined since mid-1997, possibly because of greater anti-terrorism vigilance by the\nPalestinian Authority. \n  Over the past few years, radical Islamic groups have increasingly sought to oust pro-U.S.\nregimes\nand gain removal of U.S. troops from the Persian Gulf. This is the chief goal of independent\nterrorist financier and chieftain, Saudi dissident Usama bin Ladin. Bin Ladin, the independently-\nfinanced leader of a broad terrorist coalition, receives safehaven in Afghanistan and, thus far in\n1998, he has been outspoken in support of attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East. The\nAdministration contends it has convincing evidence that bin Ladin's network was involved in the\nAugust 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, prompting August 20\nmilitary action against his bases in Afghanistan. His officially-sanctioned presence in Afghanistan\ncould lead that country, at some point, to be placed on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. \n  U.S. policy to counter Middle Eastern terrorism operates on several different levels. U.S.\ncounterterrorism policy has generally been directed against state sponsors, which are readily\nidentifiable targets. A problem for U.S. policy has been how to coordinate U.S. counterterrorism\npolicies with those of U.S. allies. Most allied governments believe that engaging these countries\ndiplomatically might sometimes be more effective than trying to isolate or punish them, but U.S.\nofficials believe that economic and political pressure against states sponsoring terrorism has made\nsome of these states more cautious. \n  In recent Executive orders and legislation, the Administration and Congress have stepped up\nefforts to directly pressure terrorists and terrorist groups, some of which obtain support and funding\nfrom persons living in the United States. In October 1997, under a 1996 anti-terrorism law, the\nAdministration formally named 30 groups, half of which are Middle Eastern, as terrorist groups,\nbarring them from having a presence in the United States. The August 20, 1998 military strikes on\nbin Ladin's network suggests that military action might play an increasing role in U.S. efforts to\ncombat individual terrorist groups.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/98-722",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "Middle Eastern Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}