The United States is considering last-minute revisions to a State Department report of state sponsors of terrorism in light of the new national strategy following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Officials said the report is being withheld until after any offensive against Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden. They said the delay is meant to provide those currently on the list to demonstrate their renouncement of terrorism by helping in the military campaign.

In Tel Aviv, Israeli military sources said several Arab countries wooed by Washington to join the anti-terrorism coalition continue to train Palestinians for Islamic terrorist attacks, Middle East Newsline reported. The greatest beneficiary of this support, they said, has been Hamas.

The State Department includes Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria on the terrorism list. Sudan and Syria, the officials said, could be removed from the list if they join the effort.

Officials said the first list that will be issued would be that of foreign terrorist organizations. Such a report could be released within weeks.

The second report would be that of state sponsors of terrorism. This report would wait until after the offensive against Bin Laden.

"If countries should take steps to stop any form of cooperation with terrorism, we would be happy to take them off the list," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

The Israeli military sources said the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism doesn't appear to have affected Arab government support for the Islamic insurgency against Israel.

On late Sunday, Israeli authorities announced the capture of more than 20 Hamas members from the northern West Bank. Officials said the members were trained in sabotage and recruitment in such countries as Iran, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.

The Hamas members were involved in two suicide bombings in the Israeli city of Netanya in April and May, officials said. They were responsible for recruiting members in both the West Bank and among Arab citizens in Israel.

Military sources said the effort sponsored by Arab countries was meant to increase Hamas's strength in the region. They said Arab governments helped recruit and train the Hamas members.

The United States has offered to remove such countries as Sudan and Syria from the State Department list of terrorist sponsors if they help in the current campaign against Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

Sudan has been praised by Washington Ñ which abstained in a United Nations decision to remove sanctions from Khartoum Ñ for providing intelligence information on Bin Laden allies.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts