Cooperation needed to combat global terror

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Cooperation among countries and a global judicial system can result in a successful fight against terror, a senior Israeli security official said.

"It is possible to fight terror successfully and even defeat it, but success requires a general cooperation between countries and intelligence agencies and the free flow of knowledge, intelligence and homeland security technology, as well as operational cooperation at a high level and the development of a global judicial system," Yuval Diskin, head of the Israel Security Agency known as Shin Bet, told a homeland security conference Monday.

Diskin noted the advancement of technology has given rise to global terror opportunities, Haaretz reported.

"Technology allows terror to cross more borders and continents," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Diskin cited examples of weapons purchased by Hamas and Islamic Jihadists from Iran and Korea that reach Yemen and Sudan and are smuggled into the Gaza Strip through Egypt's Sinai Desert.

"Terrorists use Internet chat rooms," Diskin said. "These are people who read certain Web sites and undergo cyber-brainwashing by al-Qaida operatives. The kind of information that is available (on these Web sites) teaches them how to handle explosives and evade security service organizations like the one I head."

Israel has been successful in thwarting terror, but to become more effective, the security agency requires cooperation from the political and operational echelon, he said.