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Terror Attacks Threaten Gulf's Oil Routes

NCJ Number
198424
Journal
Jane's Intelligence Review Volume: 14 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2002 Pages: 6-11
Author(s)
Ed Blanche
Date Published
December 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Attacks on marine traffic, particularly tankers, could become a strategy of Islamic terrorists intent on disrupting the global economy and undermining oil and gas producing regimes.
Abstract
The bombing of the French-flagged supertanker "Limburg" in the Arabian Sea off Yemen's southeastern coast on October 6, 2002, exposed the vulnerability of vital shipping lanes in the Middle East to terrorist attacks. The tanker routes that run from the Gulf to Asia, Europe, and the United States are the region's economic lifeline, and any systematic attack on them would have a serious worldwide impact. In addition to the threat of bombings, another concern is the proliferation of submarines being acquired by India and Pakistan, traditional foes who are engaged in building up their naval power in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, as well as China, which feels encircled by U.S. military expansion into Central Asia. In any conflict that involves these or other Asian states, the disruption of shipping carrying vital oil and gas supplies to the east would be a strategic objective. One of the greatest concerns is that terrorists could use fuel-laden tankers as giant floating missiles against coastal cities in the United States and elsewhere. Further, security authorities in the United States and elsewhere are worried that Bin Laden's followers or Islamic groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, or even a regime hostile to the United States, could transport a weapon of mass destruction hidden in a cargo ship into a port. Shipping containers have long been used to smuggle weapons and explosives, and Western intelligence agencies report that Bin Laden has a fleet of more than 20 ships moving his operatives and explosives around the world by using front companies to cover his trail. 4 photographic illustrations and 1 figure