AZERBAIJAN: 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS BAKU 001842 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC EFIN KCRM KPAO PTER KHLS AEMR AJ KAPO SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM REF: STATE 175925 ¶1. Summary: Cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States on counterterrorism predates the September 11, 2001 attacks and the waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act in January 2002. Over the past five years, the GOAJ has continued to step up its efforts to combat terrorist financing, and has aggressively apprehended and tried members of suspected terrorist groups. It has rendered numerous terrorists and persons suspected of having ties to terrorists. It has also closed Islamic organizations operating in Azerbaijan, which were suspected of supporting terrorist groups. In April 2006, Azerbaijan sentenced two separate terrorist cells associated with militant Islam to prison sentences. End Summary. ¶2. Proposed report for Azerbaijan in 2006 Patterns of Global Terrorism Report to Congress. Azerbaijan and the United States have a very good record of cooperation on counterterrorism issues that predates the September 11, 2001 attacks. Azerbaijan assisted in the investigation of the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings and has cooperated with the U.S. Embassy in Baku to counter terrorist threats against the mission. After the September 11 attacks, the Government of Azerbaijan expressed unqualified support for the United States and offered "whatever means necessary" to the U.S.-led counterterrorism coalition. Azerbaijan has granted blanket overflight clearance, engaged in information sharing and law-enforcement cooperation, and has approved numerous landings and refueling operations at its civilian airport in support of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan has supported peacekeeping operations in Iraq since August 2003 with an infantry company of approximately 150 soldiers stationed at the Haditha dam. A platoon of Azerbaijani soldiers has been working with the Turkish peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan since November 2002, and President Aliyev announced plans to double this number to between 40 and 44 soldiers. Another platoon has been working with the Turkish peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo since 1999. Azerbaijan has also provided strong political support to the United States in the Global War on Terrorism. With the 2005 ratification of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, Azerbaijan has acceded to all 13 United Nations Conventions on Terrorism. It has also joined 11 European conventions on combating terrorism. In 2003, the GOAJ implemented UN Security Council resolutions 1368, 1373 and 1377. In May 2005, the GOAJ joined the Convention of the Council of Europe on terrorism prevention. The government also approved changes to the criminal code that increased the maximum penalty for acts of terrorism from 15 years to life imprisonment and added a provision making the financing of terrorist activities a crime under Azerbaijani law. While Azerbaijan has served as a route for international mujahedin with ties to terrorist organizations seeking to move people, money, and material throughout the Caucasus, Azerbaijan has stepped up its efforts and has had some success in reducing their presence and hampering their activities. Azerbaijan has taken steps to combat terrorist financing and identify possible terrorist-related funding by distributing lists of suspected terrorist groups and individuals to local banks. In May 2003, the GOAJ established an inter-ministerial experts group responsible for drafting anti-money laundering and counterterrorist finance legislation. In December 2006, the experts group, through the President's office, provided its most recent draft to the U.S. Department of Justice and the COE for comment. The draft law includes the establishment of a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and expands the predicate crimes for money laundering beyond narcotics trafficking. The Embassy anticipates that comments in-line with international standards will be provided in mid-January and continued emphasis will be placed on adoption of the law. In April 2006, the Azerbaijani Serious Crimes court sentenced six men in a group called Al-Muvahhidun Jamaat to prison terms ranging from 10-15 years. The group was convicted of the following crimes: illegal purchasing of weapons, armed robbery, illegal border crossing, fabricating documents and resistance to law enforcement. According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security, the members of the group planned to travel to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey for military training. The group was accused of planning bomb attacks on the U.S., Israeli and Russian embassies, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) building, and the National Bank of Azerbaijan, and "seeking the physical elimination of the leaders of Azerbaijan's government and security forces." The group was originally arrested on July 13, 2005. Also in April 2006, in a separate trial involving a separate group, also called al-Qaida Caucasus (separate from a group of the same name sentenced in 2005),16 group members were sentenced to terms of up to life in prison. The group was convicted of the illegal purchase and bearing of firearms and also for the assassination in July 2005 of an officer of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs. This group consisted of citizens of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia and Yemen. Most of them were activists of various radical religious organizations and that had undergone training at a camp in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. According to media reports, Azerbaijan also participated in the international investigation regarding bombings at the U.S. embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in June 2004. The investigation led to the conviction and sentencing of Kazakhstani citizen Zhakshibek Biymurzayev to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges in Kazakhstan. Biymurzayev was one of the main orchestrators of the Tashkent suicide bombing and a high-level member of the Islamic Jihad Union. Since the September 11 attacks, Azerbaijan has turned over approximately 32 foreign citizens with suspected ties to terrorists, including eight to Egypt and three to Saudi Arabia. Overall, the State Border Guard Service reported that it has extradited 39 international terrorists and deported 152 people on suspicion of ties to terrorist organizations. In 2006, Azerbaijan turned one terrorism suspect over to Russia. The individual was accused of a bombing in Dagestan in 2002. He was originally arrested in Azerbaijan and sentenced by an Azerbaijani court in April 2006 to seven years in prison. He was then extradited to Russia for investigation. There is no evidence in 2006 that terrorists find safe haven in Azerbaijan or that there is any terrorist group operating in Azerbaijan which meets the guidelines as defined for this report. EMBASSY POINT OF CONTACT: EMAIL: LEWISMW@STATE.GOV INTERNATIONAL LINE: 994124980335 TIE LINE: 841-0000 INTERNATIONAL FAX: 994124656671 TIE LINE FAX: 841-4289 ADDIONAL POC EMAIL: BENNETTJA@STATE.GOV HYLAND