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Michael Kraft & Yonah Alexander (Editors): "Evolution of U.S. Counterterrorism Policy" Douglas Farah & Zachary Abuza in Countering the Financing of Terrorism Douglas Farah: "Merchant of Death" and "Blood From Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror" Michael Jacobson: "The West at War: U.S. and European Counterterrorism Efforts, Post–September 11" Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: "My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir" Steven Emerson: "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US" and "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us" Victor Comras & Matthew Levitt (contributors): "Terrorism Financing and State Responses," Stanford University Press Matthew Levitt: "Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks" and "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad" and "Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11" Zachary Abuza: "Political Islam and Violence in Indonesia" and "Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror" Lorenzo Vidino "Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of Global Jihad" Kenneth Conboy: "The Second Front: Inside Asia’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Network" Evan Kohlmann: "Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network" Credits
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Libyan Hostage Taking: Past, Present & FutureBy Aaron Mannes
Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi, Muammar’s best-known son and likely heir, recently spoke with Newsweek International about, among other things, the recent release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who were convicted in a Libyan court of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV while working at a hospital in Benghazi.* Libya received an extensive compensation package for allowing the six accused to be transferred to Bulgaria (where they were promptly pardoned) that included medical assistance, a nuclear reactor, and an arms deal with France (although the French president, predictably, denies any linkage.) When asked if this was little more than blackmail, Saif al-Islam responded: Blackmail? Maybe. It is blackmail, but the Europeans also blackmailed us. Yeah, it's an immoral game, but they set the rules of the game, the Europeans, and now they are paying the price ... Everyone tries to play with this card to advance his own interest back home.Saif al-Islam, talks a good game about modernization and has played a key role in re-building Libya’s relations with the West – which only makes his response more surprising. But perhaps it shouldn’t be such a surprise. Some of Seif al-Islam’s attitude comes from Libyan perceptions of the negotiations for the settlement for the Lockerbie bombing. But there is another angle. According to this paper from 2000, part of Libya’s strategy for international rehabilitation was negotiating hostage returns, particularly in the Philippines where Libya has a long history of supporting Islamist groups. Saif al-Islam apparently played a key role in arranging and funding ransom payments to Abu Sayyaf (which was started in part by Libyan funding) in the late 1990s. The ransom payments were a boon to Abu Sayyaf, allowing this initially marginal group go international and to purchase equipment and, more importantly, the loyalty of the impoverished local population. These payoffs allowed Libya to have it both ways – appear as a helpful actor on the international stage, while still effectively funding terrorism and maintaining its standing among Islamist movements worldwide. The first American military engagement in the Middle East involved hostage takers in Tripoli. Hostage-taking, it appears is an essential component of Libya statecraft and, based on the comments of Saif al-Islam, we should not expect them to abandon it any time soon. *Outside of the Arab world few took these accusations (which also pointed to the Mossad and Western intelligence agencies being involved) seriously. The HIV outbreak was almost certainly due to poor sanitary conditions at the hospital – the foreign medical workers, who confessed under torture in prison, were merely a convenient scapegoat.
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