home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CNN Newsroom: Global View
/
CNN Newsroom: Global View.iso
/
fsu
/
fsu.mi2
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-05-02
|
3KB
|
72 lines
<text>
<title>
Former Soviet Union: Global Terrorism
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Patterns Of Global Terrorism: 1991
Western European Overview: Former Soviet Union
</hdr>
<body>
<p> With the progressive dissolution of the Soviet Union, Soviet
authorities were largely preoccupied with internal dynamics in
1991. Consequently, there was uncertainty about institutional
responsibility for counterterrorism, particularly with the
paring of the KGB. Nevertheless, Soviet authorities continued
bilateral consultations with Western countries on terrorism,
their concern sharpened by a perception of increased
vulnerability to domestic political instability.
</p>
<p> Political violence in certain areas of the former Soviet
Union continued at a high level in 1991. Interethnic civil
strife intensified between Armenians and Azerbaijanis as
central authority weakened in the Caucausus. In April, a Soviet
colonel responsible for logistics in the Caucausus was
assassinated in Rostov, Russia. Soviet authorities subsequently
arrested several Armenians in connection with the attack. Nearly
50 civilians were killed in attacks on trains and a bus in the
Caucausus between May and August. A train proceeding through the
Nakhichevan autonomous region of Azerbaijan en route to Armenia
was hijacked in September; no casualties were reported. Several
press reports describe an attempted bombing in Kiev's only
synagogue in December by unknown assailants using grenades and
artillery shells. A black market of military weapons is growing
with the further demobilization of many former Soviet military
personnel, and this may contribute to the arsenals of dissident
groups.
</p>
<p> Incidents of airplane hijackings in the former Soviet Union
decreased, however, from about 30 attempts in 1990 to about 10
in 1991. One notable hijacking, to Turkey in November, was a
political gesture prompted by Russian President Yeltsin's
attempt to impose a state of emergency in the Checheno-
Ingushetia Autonomous Republic. The Chechen president
threatened Russia with terrorist retaliation, including attacks
on atomic power stations.
</p>
<p> In 1991 the Soviet Union maintained its relations with most
state sponsors of terrorism--Syria, Iran, Libya, North Korea,
and Cuba--although at lower levels. However, its military and
economic dealings with these countries were increasingly
commercialized. (Iraq was the exception; Soviet dealings with
that country were governed by the various UN Security Council
sanctions adopted in 1990 and 1991.) Economic and budgetary
constraints, as well as the overall preoccupation with domestic
matters, added impetus to the reevaluation, begun in the
mid-1980s, of these ties. The announced intent to withdraw the
Soviet brigade in Cuba and to sharply reduce arms deliveries to
that country were perhaps the most dramatic evidence of this
trend in 1991. With the final breakup of the USSR, the newly
independent states exhibited little support for the former
regime's alliance with state sponsors. In October, Russian
President Yeltsin outlined an agenda for Russia that included
a cutoff of all foreign aid and a shift toward strictly
commercial relations with former client states, including Syria,
Iran, and Cuba.
</p>
<p>Source: United States Department of State, April 1992.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>