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WASHINGTON - Libya and Sudan, two of the seven countries on a United States list of designated "state sponsors of terrorism," came closest to meeting US expectations in their response to the September 11 attacks on the United States, the State Department said in a report released on Tuesday.
The annual report Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001, bigger than ever at 179 pages, says 2001 was the deadliest year for terrorist attacks because of the 3000 people killed by suicide hijackers in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
But the overall number of attacks declined during the year, to 346 from 426 in 2000. Excluding bombings of a Colombian pipeline, the numbers would be 168 attacks against 274.
The report by the US State Department is the first to appear since US President George W Bush launched his "war on terrorism" and told foreign governments that they must choose between cooperation and being ostracised.
The list of seven "state sponsors" -- Cuba, Libya, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan and Syria -- remained unchanged for the eighth year running but Bush's demand for international cooperation gave them a chance to placate Washington.
Countries on the list cannot buy US arms and are ineligible for US aid. The United States votes against loans to them by the World Bank and other financial institutions.
"While some of these countries appear to be reconsidering their present course, none has yet taken all necessary actions to divest itself fully of ties to terrorism," the report said.
"Sudan and Libya seem closest to understanding what they must do to get out of the terrorism business and each has taken measures pointing it in the right direction," it added.
It said Libya appeared to have curtailed its support for "international terrorism" but may have maintained residual contacts with a few groups.
The United States says Libya has not yet complied fully with UN resolutions related to the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.
On Sudan, it said the Khartoum government had increased cooperation with US agencies and had arrested extremists suspected of "involvement in terrorist activities."
But militant Islamist groups such as al Qaeda continued to use Sudan as a safe haven, primarily for logistical and other support activities, the report said.
The report again described Iran as "the most active state sponsor of terrorism."
"Although some within Iran would like to end this support, hard-liners who hold the reins of power continue to thwart any efforts to moderate these policies," it said.
On the controversial question of whether an Iraqi intelligence officer met one of the September 11 hijackers in Prague last year, the report is completely silent.
Czech intelligence sources reported the meeting last year but US authorities said earlier this month they had no evidence of the alleged meeting between hijacker Mohammed Atta and Iraqi diplomat Ahmed al-Ani in April 2001.
The meeting would have been the only piece of evidence linking Iraq with the September 11 attacks, giving the Bush administration another reason for a possible military campaign to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
In its account of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organisation, the group blamed for the September 11 operations, the State Department does not mention any assistance from governments.
North Korea, the country which under former US President Bill Clinton was seen as the most likely to get off the US list of "state sponsors," gets less favourable treatment from the Bush administration.
"The (North Korean) response to international efforts to combat terrorism has been disappointing," the report said.
North Korea did not respond to US proposals for talks on terrorism and did not report any efforts to search for and block the financial assets of suspect groups, it said.
But the State Department did remove the Japanese Red Army from its list of designated "foreign terrorist organisations," reflecting the group's decision to disband.
One of the main US demands on the North Koreans has been that they hand over a group of Japanese Red Army members who hijacked a plane there in the 1970s.
Against Cuba, another country once tipped as a candidate for removal from the list, the State Department this year expanded the list of accusations to 47 lines from 11, adding allegations of links with the Irish Republican Army and with Chile's Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriquez, and its protection of some fugitives from US justice.
The Bush administration has taken a hard line against Cuban President Fidel Castro, opposing the pressures for an end to the economic embargo of the island and accusing the government of trying to develop biological weapons for offence.
The report showed US determination to crush even the most obscure Islamic militancy, adding several small groups across three continents to a watch list of "other terrorist groups."
They included groups in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Europe, Indonesia, Kashmir, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Somalia, Turkey and Yemen.
But the new list of "foreign terrorist organisations" -- a category subject to legal sanctions -- merely reflects the additions made in the last three months of last year in response to the September 11 attacks.
- REUTERS
Story archives:
Links: War against terrorism
Timeline: Major events since the Sept 11 attacks
US sees Libya, Sudan helpful against 'terrorism'
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