NEW DELHI, May 7 – Major militant outfits including the outlawed ULFA, NDFB, NLFT, ATTF faces the threat of coming under international scanner with the United States mulling to add them on its list of terrorist groups. Though the US has not indicated which of the rebels groups might face action, Ambassador and US State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador J Cofer Black told newsmen last evening that top US counter-terrorism official were visiting India soon to hold talks with the Government of India in this connection. The US move has delighted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), as adding some of the outfits like ULFA, NDFB besides rebel groups of Tripura and Manipur would help them in curbing their operations in foreign countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
However, the two factions of the Region’s biggest insurgent group, the NSCN (I-M) were unlikely to come under the scrutiny of the US, as they are involved in peace talks and a ceasefire is currently on with the Government of India, sources said. The US move would put the militant organisations under intense pressure to sit for negotiations with Government of India. The anti-talk groups in NLFT besides ULFA have been insisting that the talks be held in a third country, in presence of UN observers and on the issue of sovereignty. The pre-conditions have been rejected by the Centre, which wants the outfits to sit for talks without any conditions though it is not averse to the idea of holding talks in a foreign country.
Though the MHA is yet to prepare the list of outfits for the US, indications were that the spotlight would be on ULFA and NDFB in Assam besides few outfits in Manipur and Tripura. In Manipur too some of the outfits have been a source of constant headache for Delhi. Officials here believe that despite the recent set backs in Bhutan, ULFA still has the potential to step into the shoes of NSCN becoming the most-powerful outfit in the North-east. Furthermore ULFA’s alleged close links with ISI of Pakistan has become a cause of worry for security agencies.
Meanwhile, the US official who was addressing newsmen here through video conferencing said both India and US needed to work ‘more effectively on the issue. "We know India is a victim of terrorism," Black said. The US Counterterrorism expert said there was a need to work with more efficiency with the Indian Government on understanding more about the North-East militants, who are allegedly operating from the neighbouring Bangladesh. The move undoubtedly would put pressure on Government of Bangladesh to crack the whip on the militant outfits taking shelter in the country.
If recent reports are to be believed it was on the pressure of US that Dhaka agreed to intercept the huge arms consignment in Chittagong recently. The US official hinted that the recent ban on the naxal groups was the outcome of the attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu. In its newly launched 'Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003' report, the People's War Group was blamed for the car-bomb attack. Black, who holds the rank of Ambassador at Large and is an ex-CIA man, himself is coming to India to meet officials here.
It may recalled here that US had early this week announced that four additional Indian groups have been added to lists of terrorist organizations. The Department of State Report "Patterns of Global Terrorism" also highlighted that India is an important partner for the United States in the Global War on Terrorism. Two Indian Naxal groups, the Maoist Communist Center of India (MCCI) and the People's War group, have now been added to the list of Other Terrorist Groups. Two Sikh organizations, Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, have been added to the Terrorist Exclusion List.
Also on the Department's lists are the terrorist groups active in Jammu and Kashmir, Al-Badhr Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), and Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM). The report also retained the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), all of which are active in J&K.
Being listed as a terrorist group means that the State Department has identified the group as practicing, or it has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism. If a group is listed on the Terrorist Exclusion List, the US has the ability to exclude its members or supporters from the United States or to deport them if they are found within United States borders. The US Government has employed this definition of terrorism for statistical and analytical purposes since 1983. The US report stressed that the Indian Government was steadfast in its desire to combat terrorism and worked closely with the United States in this regard. For example, several hundred Indian law enforcement officials participated in training as part of the Antiterrorism Assistance programme.