Terrorist Group Profiles Disclaimers Dudley Knox Library Naval Postgraduate School
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1. In no way is the material presented on the Terrorist Group Profiles pages intended to represent or be construed as the policy, beliefs or position of the Dudley Kox Library, the Naval Postgraduate School, the United States Navy and its affiliates, or the maintainer of these page. These pages are provided for informational, research purposes only.

2. "Adverse mention in this report of individual members of any political, social, ethnic, religious, ornational group is not meant to imply that all members of that group are terrorists. Indeed, terrorists represent a small minority of dedicated, often fanatical, individuals in most such groups. It is those small groups - and their actions - that are the subject of this report."

3. All the information contained in this document and its links is taken directly from sources published by U.S. Government agencies.

The descriptions of terrorist groups are taken from "Appendix B: Background Information on Terrorist Groups" of :

U.S. Department of State. Office of the Secretary of State. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. Patterns of Global Terrorism. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Department of State.

The information for the Profiles of groups listed in Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1998 is taken directly from "Appendix B: Background Information on Terrorist Groups." According to a note in that appendix, the "list of terrorist groups is not exhaustive. It focuses on the groups that were designated foreign terrorist organizations on 8 October 1997 pursuant to the Antiterrorism and effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, but also includes other major groups that were active in 1998. Terrorist groups whose activities were limited in scope in 1998 are not included

The information for Profiles of groups listed in prior editions uses the 1993 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism as a base. Updates from more recent editions, when present, are in square brackets [].

4. With the exception of being formatted to fit the Hypertext Mark-Up Language, passages presented here have not been edited in any way as to content.

2. If you wish to link to these pages, please make your link to http:\\web.nps.navy.mil\~library\tgp\tgpmain.htm not to the individual group pages

3. DO NOT inquire about e-mail addresses for the various terrorist groups.

No one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance. For the purposes of this report, however, we have chosen the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f(d). That statute contains the following definitions:

• The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant (1) targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.
• The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country.
• The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.

(1) For purposes of this definition, the term "noncombatant" is interpreted to include, in addition to civilians, military personnel who at the time of the incident are unarmed and/or not on duty. For example, in past reports we have listed as terrorist incidents the murders of the following US military personnel: Col. James Rowe, killed in Manila in April 1989; Capt. William Nordeen, US defense attache killed in Athens in June 1988; the two servicemen killed in the La Belle disco bombing in West Berlin in April 1986; and the four off-duty US Embassy Marine guards killed in a cafe in El Salvador in June 1985. We also consider as acts of terrorism attacks on military installations or on armed military personnel when a state of military hostilities does not exist at the site, such as bombings against US bases in Europe, the Philippines, or elsewhere.

Note

Adverse mention in this report of individual members of any political, social, ethnic, religious, or national group is not meant to imply that all members of that group are terrorists. Indeed, terrorists represent a small minority of dedicated, often fanatical, individuals in most such groups. It is those small groups - and their actions - that are the subject of this report.

Furthermore, terrorist acts are part of a larger phenomenon of politically inspired violence, and at times the line between the two can become difficult to draw. To relate terrorist events to the larger context, and to give a feel for the conflicts that spawn violence, this report will discuss terrorist acts as well as other violent incidents that are not necessarily international terrorism.