State Department has issued its comprehensive look at global terrorism. There was some discussion about changes in format and content between this report and State’s earlier reports (“Patterns of Global Terrorism”), largely because the new reports do not include charts or tables listing the number of terrorist activites in the past year. Some say this change was made to hide unwanted figures. I think it’s an appropriate step, though, because of the intrinsic difficulty correctly counting anonymous acts that cross national and regional borders. While one can derive numbers, what is the point if those numbers don’t really mean anything? Is any greater truth being served?

The section on Saudi Arabia begins on Page 67 in the report [Page 75 in the PDF document]. It notes the steps the Saudi government has taken to fight terrorism and the funding of terrorism within the country. It’s a useful encapsulation of Saudi efforts.

The list of terrorist organizations is below:

State Department Identifies 40 Foreign Terrorist Organizations
40 other terrorist groups also named in annual report

The U.S. State Department has identified 40 Foreign Terrorist Organizations in its annual terrorism report.

In addition, the Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 [this is a 137-page PDF document], released April 27 in Washington, identifies another 40 terrorist groups or organizations that were active in the past year. Previously the annual report was known as Patterns of Global Terrorism.

Designation of a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization results in the U.S. government blocking assets held in U.S. financial institutions, denying its members visas, and making it a crime for U.S. citizens or others within U.S. jurisdiction to provide it with support or resources.

Following is the list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which is determined by the secretary of state, plus a list of other terrorist organizations that the annual report identifies as active in the past year. While Islamist groups dominate the listings, other secular and political groups–from Ireland and Israel, to Japan and Peru–also make their presence known.

Country Reports on Terrorism 2004
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
April 27, 2005

Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations

17 November
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
Ansar al-Islam (AI)
Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
Asbat al-Ansar
Aum Shinrikyo (Aum)
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA)
Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
Gama’a al-Islamiyya (IG)
HAMAS
Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
Hizballah
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)
Jemaah Islamiya Organization (JI)
Al-Jihad (AJ)
Kahane Chai (Kach)
Kongra-Gel (KGK)
Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LT)
Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
National Liberation Army (ELN)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General
Command (PFLP-GC)
Al-Qa’ida
Real IRA (RIRA)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Revolutionary Nuclei (RN)
Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)
Shining Path (SL)
Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR)
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)

Other Selected Terrorist Organizations

Al-Badhr Mujahedin (al-Badr)
Al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI)
Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)
Anti-Imperialist Territorial Nuclei (NTA)
Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF)
Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)/United People’s Front
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)
East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)
First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO)
Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI)
Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)
Hizbul-Mujahedin (HM)
Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Islamic Army of Aden (IAA)
Islamic Great East Raiders–Front (IBDA-C)
Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB)
Islamic Jihad Group (IJG)
Jamiat ul-Mujahedin (JUM)
Japanese Red Army (JRA)
Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM)
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)
New Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC)
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
Red Hand Defenders (RHD)
Revolutionary Proletarian Initiative Nuclei (NIPR)
Revolutionary Struggle (RS)
Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM)
Sipah-I-Sahaba/Pakistan (SSP)
Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR)
Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG)
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)
Turkish Hizballah
Ulster Defense Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF)
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)