News • 17 November 2002

‘Terrorism scare’ an overreaction

By Kurt Sansone

SAN GWANN - The Italian military intelligence on Thursday renewed its heightened state of alert for possible terrorist activity in Europe and pointed its finger at a terrorist cell based in Italy with contacts in London and Malta.

However, a former defence advisor speaking to MaltaToday cautioned over raising the spectre of Malta being a hive for terrorist activity.

"Malta’s geographical position and its open way of life makes it inevitable that things could happen over here, but at the same time Malta is not the centre of the world. While keeping always on the alert we must not overreact."

The former advisor described the arrest last month of an Al Qaeda suspect in Paceville as an unhappy coincidence. "I would not read too much into it. Malta is such a small country with a tightly knit community that it does not provide the ideal conditions for would-be terrorists to blend in."

In June this year Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg told this newspaper that Malta’s Security Service and law enforcement agencies had been in contact with foreign counterparts to collaborate in the international fight against terrorism. He confirmed that a number of measures had been adopted so that Malta’s security forces would be able to focus their attention on "possible threats or attacks coming from certain terrorist quarters."

The dismantling of a terrorist cell in Morocco towards the end of May was considered to be the Mediterranean’s wake up call. The Al Qaeda operatives arrested in Morocco were ready to launch attacks on NATO ships passing through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Italian intelligence had been on high alert for more than a month because of possible attacks by terrorist cells operating in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

The warning issued by Italian intelligence on Thursday was followed by another warning issued by the FBI on Friday. The US intelligence said that Al Qaeda was planning a "spectacular" attack with the objective of damaging the US economy and provoking the death of numerous citizens. The warning did not specify timeframes and possible targets. However, it is feared that Bin Laden’s targets may include nuclear power stations, oil refineries, aeroplanes and symbolic locations in the United States.