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South American nations get help fighting terrorism
Copyright ) 1997 Nando.net
Copyright ) 1997 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (December 22, 1997 3:12 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) --
Concerned about porous borders, the Clinton administration is helping
Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay counter Islamic and other terrorist
threats.
U.S.-assisted training was stepped up after terrorists killed 125 people
in attacks on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994, and
at the Israeli Embassy in the city in 1992.
Argentina blamed Iran, which denies involvement, for the 1994 car
bombing, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas are blamed for the 1992
attack at the embassy.
State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials visited the
three countries earlier in the month to discuss counter-terrorism
activities.
The Miami Herald reported Monday that they discussed training
intelligence officials and border guards, and that Argentine
intelligence chief Hugo Anzorregui had met earlier with top CIA and FBI
officials in Washington to discuss cooperation.
The training ranges from teaching dogs to detect explosive devices to
coaching local officials on how to guard borders. The United States
provides some equipment to the countries under a program established in
1984.
Overall, training in one form or another has been given to 90 countries.
Congress has approved $19 million for operations for the current fiscal
year.
One of the administration's biggest concerns is a flourishing black
market operation in a "no-man's land" border area of Paraguay and its
potential link to terrorism.
President Clinton, on a visit to South America in October, considered
spending some "down time" between official functions at Iguazu Falls
near where the three countries' borders meet. Access for a presidential
entourage would be difficult, and the idea was dropped.
Clinton and his wife, Hillary, spent the weekend at a mountain resort in
Argentina where security posed less of a problem.
The borders are relatively easy to cross illegally, and criminals,
especially those involved in narcotics, have been infiltrating for
years. There are hidden air strips and other means to avoid detection.
Thousands of Arab immigrants have settled in the area, most of them
engaged in legal commerce. But authorities are suspicious that Hezbollah
and other militant Islamic fundamentalist movements could be operating
in the area, with local assistance.
By BARRY SCHWEID, The Associated Press
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