Who Are the Active Terrorists?

DECEMBER 2000 • VOLUME VII: NUMBER 4

Who Are the Active Terrorists?

Middle East Quarterly
December 2000

http://www.meforum.org/491/who-are-the-active-terrorists

A recent report published by the Congressional Research Service¹ included a list of seventeen "foreign terrorist organizations" operating out of the Middle East as of October 1999. Arranged in order of most active to least, a very clear pattern becomes discernible: all of the most dangerous groups have an Islamist orientation, as opposed to the nationalist and leftist outlooks of yesterday's greatest worries.

Group	Description	Terrorist Activity Level
Al-Qa'ida (Ben Ladin Organiztation)	Multinational, Afghanistan-based Islamist	Very High
Armed Islamic Group (GIA)	Algerian, Islamist	High
Hamas Palestinian	Islamist	High
Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)	Pakistani, Islamist, Kashmir separatist	High
Islamic Group	Egyptian, Islamist	High
Al-Jihad	Egyptian, Islamist	High
Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)	Palestinian, Islamist	High
Hizballah	Lebanese, Shiite Islamist	Moderate
People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI)	Iranian, leftwing anti-regime	Moderate
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)	Palestinian, nationalist	Moderate
Kach	Jewish, anti-peace process	Low
Kahane Chai	Jewish, anti-peace process	Low
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)	Kurdish, anti Turkey	Low
Palestine Liberation Front	Palestinian, nationalist	Low
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)	Palestinian, Marxist	Low
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front	Turkish, leftwing anti-government	Low
Abu Nidal Organization	Palestinian, nationalist	Very Low

¹ "Terrorism: Near Eastern Groups and State Sponsors, 2000," Aug. 17, 2000

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