Terrorism: Committee calls for resources for the Security Service

The Security Committee of the National Security Service has urged those taking decisions on the political level as well as law and order agencies to ensure that they provide adequate funds and resources for Malta to keep a good lookout for any terrorism threat.

In its annual report for 2007, laid on the Table of the House by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the committee said that even if the level of the terrorist threat for Malta was low, the possibility of some terrorist born in one of the Shengen member countries entering Malta without being detected was a reality and this led to the importance of greater cooperation and information exchange between the security services of different countries.

It said that the amalgamation of the Salafista “Preach and Combat Group” and Al-Qaeda had led to the creation of the so called AQIM group. “This could have serious implications for the Mediterranean and the European Union as this organisation is taking advantage of the extensive network of operators that could be exported to the European continent.”

The report says that AQIM had consolidated its affiliation with other groups in the Maghreb area and at the same time established extensions and other assets in Northern African countries. These, apart from reaching Iraq, also reached Europe. As veteran militants started leaving Iraq, AQIM established various networks so that these could operate elsewhere and this gave the group an international aura attracting European Muslims’ sympathy towards the Salafista creed.

The report says that the local Security Service is extending its international cooperation, which it considered as crucial. The Maltese Security Service was looked upon as one which could give a valid contribution against terrorism, the committee said.