Sunday, July 31, 2005
Pundit RhetIraq: Dr. Gunaratna
Who: Dr. Rohan Gunaratna (Terrorism Expert)
Source: Agence France Presse via The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Quotes:
"The epicenter of international terrorism ... has shifted from Afghanistan in Asia to the Middle East, that is to Iraq," Gunaratna, regarded as one of the world's authorities on Al-Qaeda, told a financial security conference here.
Source: Agence France Presse via The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Quotes:
"The epicenter of international terrorism ... has shifted from Afghanistan in Asia to the Middle East, that is to Iraq," Gunaratna, regarded as one of the world's authorities on Al-Qaeda, told a financial security conference here.
"Like Afghanistan produced the last generation of terrorists, Iraq will produce the next generation," he said.
"When they come back, they will have certain capabilities, certain knowledge and the threat of violence will spread," he told delegates at the Asia-Pacific Financial Crime conference.
"So the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has not reduced the threat of terrorism in any way. This is the most significant development we have seen in the past three years."
"[...] in place of Al-Qaeda we have seen 30 or 40 different groups emerge," he said, adding that the world must accept that terrorism had become a globalized threat that cannot be eradicated.
