International Wave of Car Bombings Sweeps Chechnya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco
Note: This page has been added to several times as the current spate of terrorist attacks has unfolded. I have tried to add to the page on the fly, but due to other commitments, this page is very rough.
- Trevor Stanley, PWHCE Editor.
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Critique: From Black September to September 11: Blaming the Victim. 14/09/2003.
On 12th May 2003, a truck bomb struck the headquarters of the Chechen Government in Grozny, six weeks after plans were announced for a reduction in Russian troop numbers in Chechnya. Fourteen hours later, in three different gated communities housing foreigners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, gunmen attacked the gatehouses, opening the gates and providing access for the car bombers. The Saudi attacks came days after America announced plans to withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia. In both Saudi Arabia and Chechnya, dozens were killed in the attacks.
(BREAKING NEWS) Two days later, (14th May), another terrorist attack killed at least ten in Chechnya. The attacker was apparently a female suicide bomber, and the target was a funeral procession.
(MORE NEWS) On the 16th, four to five car bombs ripped through Casablanca, Morocco's most populous city. These attacks were apparently aimed at European and Jewish interests.
These bombings have all the hallmarks of a co-ordinated international terrorist attack, probably by Al Qaeda (the method of attack, the targets and the international simultaneity are key signs). However, as with the Bali Bombing, which received detailed media coverage in the West in contrast to the meagre coverage of the string of bombings in the Philippines the same month, media attention is focused this time on Saudi Arabia. Whether because the Saudi Arabia attack seems more 'relevant' because of its proximity to Iraq, because the existence of Islamic fundamentalists in Chechnya is not convenient to some commentators' agendas, or (most likely) because 'westerners' were the target in Saudi Arabia, whereas the pro-Russian Government headquarters was the target in Chechnya, the media attention has been squarely on the Saudi Arabian attacks. In a sample of several hours of broadcasting on 13th May, Australia's News Radio carried several reports on the Riyadh bombings, two reports on the Kentucky Derby, some information on music history, but no mention of Chechnya. Likewise, Melbourne paper The Age carried no report on the 12th May Chechen attack in its 14th May edition.
Some blamed Chechnya's indigenous rebel Maskhadov for the attacks in Chechnya, but others suggested that the local Arab figure Walid may have been behind the attack. The link between the struggle in Chechnya and Osama bin Laden, asserted by Russian 'hawks' but played down by many western commentators, is given credibility by the fact that bin Laden's personal bodyguards in Afghanistan were Chechens.
Early reaction from the American Government suggests this attack will push Americans out of Riyadh, re-inforcing the Al Qaeda prediction that terrorist attacks such as 11th September, Bali and the current attacks can achieve the political goal of repelling a superpower.
The perpetrators of the Riyadh attacks were raided by the Saudi authorities on 6th May 2003, but escaped after a gun battle.
The Morocco attacks were against a Spanish restaurant, a Jewish nightclub/cultural centre (which was empty), a Jewish-owned Italian restaurant, a hotel which was hosting an anti-terrorism conference, and the Belgian consulate. Some media reports have tried to present these attacks as retaliation against the Coalition of the Willing, for example, CNN erroneously stated that Belgium supported America in the war against Iraq (Bombs kill at least 20 in downtown Casablanca). This provides another possible reason for the media blackout on the Chechnya bombings.
Assuming these attacks are a co-ordinated Al Qaeda campaign, they demonstrate clearly that Al Qaeda's mental picture of the world is polarised differently to the pictures in Western minds, or indeed in many non-western minds. (The Saudi Government seems to have a quite different picture for example.)
A short list of countries whose interests Al Qaeda has now (apparently) directly targetted with terrorist/guerrilla attacks:
United States, France, Russia, India, Belgium, Spain, Britain, Israel, China PRC, The Philippines, Indonesia.
A quick look at our Coalition of the Willing page demonstrates that neither isolationism nor anti-Americanism will provide protection against Al Qaeda.
Morocco was also opposed to the 2003 War in Iraq, but was seen as the most democratic of the Arab countries, and was singled out in Osama bin Laden's February 2003 audio tape along with Saudi Arabia.
Approximate casualty counts:
First Chechen bombing of Government headquarters: 59 dead.
Second Chechen bombing of funeral procession: 10-20 dead.
Three Saudi car bombs: 25 dead (plus nine attackers, makes 34).
Five Morocco attacks: 41 dead (and counting).
PWHCE has assembled this somewhat random list of links at very short notice. We apologise for the haphazzard nature of this list.
Russian Philly News Feed
A useful, regularly updating digest which served as a source for many of the links here relating to the Chechen bombing.
The Birmingham News: The War Against Al Qaida Won't End Soon, commentary by Steven L Taylor, 25/05/2003.
Jerusalem Post: Jewish targets attacked in Casablanca
A quite comprehensive early report on the Moroccan attacks.
It is necessary to register with JPost (free) to read their articles.
Middle East Online: 41 killed in Casablanca suicide blasts
17/5/2003
...and an Arab Source to balance the previous link...
CNN: Peter Bergen: Al Qaeda may be forming multiple attacks
17 May 2003
This interview with Peter Bergen, author of Holy War Inc and CNN terrorist intelligence analyst, and David Ensor, a CNN correspondent, looks at the possible links between the attacks, and the likelihood they are connected to Al Qaeda.
CNN: Bombs kill at least 20 in downtown Casablanca
17 May 2003
The article includes the following:
Three booby-trapped cars exploded in front of the Belgian consulate, according to MAP, and another bomb exploded near Casa D'Espangne, a Spanish social club and restaurant. Both Belgium and Spain were allies of the United States and Britain in the war against Iraq.
The claim that Belgium was part of the Coalition of the Willing is patently false, and for Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, this demonstrates that, "CNN is so anxious to tie these attacks to the Iraq war that they are lying outright."
Such a theory would also explain why the Chechen attacks are left out of every report on this international wave of suicide bombings.
Middle East Online: Moroccan Islamist: Time to globalise Jihad
This is a report on an interview with a Moroccan Salafist (pro-Al-Qaeda) organiser, apparently conducted just prior to the Moroccan attacks.
Reuters: U.S. Says Al Qaeda Link to Bombings Plausible
Fri May 16, 2003
Fox News/Associated Press: Evidence Mounts of Possible Attack in Kenya
Friday, May 16, 2003
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed's reported return to Kenya puts that country at the top of the list of other probable targets. American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were simultaneously attacked by Al Qaeda in 1998, and on 28th November 2002, a suicide carbomb attack coupled with a surface-to-air missile strike against an airliner occurred in Kenya, allegedly in connection with Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.
In addition to a warning to avoid all non-essential travel to Kenya, the British Government has also issued warnings for Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Eritrea and Djibouti.
The State Department's advisories this week had related to Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Malaysia.
Middle East Online: Report: Al-Qaeda to stun US, Israel
17/05/2003
Al Qaeda's answer to "Shock and Awe? This is a report based on an e-mail from an 'al Qaeda affiliated' mujahideen training outfit.
Reuters: Bombs Kill 24 in Morocco After Bush Terror Warning
Gilles Trequesser, 16 May 2003.
FoxNews/Associated Press: Jiddah Tightens Security Amid New Terror Warnings, Morocco Attacks
Saturday, May 17, 2003
ABC (Australia): Terrorist attacks strengthen resolve: Downer
17 May 2003.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer comments on the Saudi and Moroccan attacks (but not the Chechen attacks).
NineMSN (Australia): UK fears Sept 11-style attack 14 May 2003
"Britain has gone on high terrorist alert after suicide bombers killed at least 29 people in attacks on Western compounds in Saudi Arabia." [no mention is made of the Chechen attack, which at time of writing has claimed twice as many victims at 59 dead].
Middle East Forum: Islamism, Moroccan-Style: The Ideas of Sheikh Yassine.
Bruce Maddy-Weitzman
Fully referenced journal article.
DisasterRelief.org: Dozens Dead after Chechnya Bombing
A news report on the first Chechnya bombing.
Ananova: Death Toll Rises in Chechen Truck Bombing
IndyStar/New York Times:
Bombings are linked, Putin says: Some dispute claim that blasts in Chechnya and Saudi Arabia are 'absolutely identical.'
Steven Lee Myers The New York Times May 14, 2003
Note that the single, short quote at the end of the article is a fairly slim basis for this story's sceptical subtitle.
IndyStar/Washington Post: Explosions in Saudi Arabia Ruin Residences
By Glenn Kessler May 14, 2003
IndyStar/Chicago Tribune: Saudis link bombings in capital to al-Qaida
By Cam Simpson Chicago Tribune May 14, 2003
CNN: Chechnya bomb: Security criticized
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
The Toronto Star: Russia Sees Link Between Attacks
SHARON LAFRANIERE 14 May 2003
Miami Herald/Associated Press: Putin Likens Chechen, Saudi Attacks
Yuri Bagrov, AP.
Miami Herald/Associated Press: Saudis Link Car Bomb Attacks to Al-Qaida
By Adnan Malik, AP.
Sovietsky Star: Little Reaction in West to Chechnya Bombing
Nationalist/nostalgic publication the Sovietski Star makes our point, but with some more paranoid overtones.
BBC: Chechen Toll Rises
ChechnyaNews.com: Russia To Pull Some Troops From Chechnya (3 Mar 2003)
Russia plans to withdraw from Chechnya, America plans to withdraw from Saudi Arabia, suicide bombings against Russian and America interests take place in both countries in an apparently linked episode. Could this be an attempt to embroil both countries in further war and therefore elicit a "Vietnam Syndrome"? Or perhaps an attempt to encourage further retreat?
BBC: Historical page on Chechen bombing in December 2002
The BBC produced a comprehensive page on the December bombings, which is still available now.
CNN: '10 dead' in new Chechen blast Wednesday, May 14, 2003 Posted: 1130 GMT
Ananova: Ten killed in another Chechnya terror attack
BBC: Many Dead in Chechen 'Suicide' Attack
Telegraph: Woman suicide bomber kills 10 in Chechnya
(Filed: 14/05/2003)
If you have any comments relating to this article or similar issues,
or if you would like to submit an article for publication,
please e-mail pwhce@yahoo.com.au.
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Copyright ©2003 Trevor Stanley, Perspectives on World History and Current Events
