HS Home 30.3.2004 - Paavo Selin wants to find terrorists and their supporters

By Jouni Mölsä

In the view of Paavo Selin, the head of the antiterrorism unit of Finland's Security Police (SUPO), the terror attacks in Madrid were a prime example of a new kind of terrorism, which chooses so-called "soft targets" - civilians.

"The leaders of these groups are not idiots. They know how to plan and think these things out. As diplomatic, military, and political targets are well protected, they go for targets where the impact on the public at large is as great as possible", he explains.

In the United States the FBI has called for back doors installed in computers and various game consoles in order to monitor communications.

"It would hurt the fight against terrorism if we went overboard in the methods we choose. They are from times past. We have had totalitarian states that have monitored their citizens using all means possible. In my opinion our strategy must be to find the targets and take them under control. If we try to monitor everything, we will never find the real targets", Selin says, commenting on the prevailing reality in Finland.

Any discussion on the fight against terrorism raises questions of human rights and civil liberties.

"Treatment of suspected terrorists should follow human rights regulations to the letter. After all, the perpetrators want to show how wrong Western society is, and how corrupt Western governments are. Inappropriate behaviour by officials would only raise more bitterness and hatred."

Selin sees many causes for concern in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings. One of these is the possibility that a North African Muslim extremist group may have been behind the action.

"North African groups wield great influence in Europe, and they are capable of recruiting new members into their ranks. Reports from Spain do not bode well", he says.

Selin is not completely happy with the way the Spanish government has reacted.

"If we think about this from the terrorists' point of view, they are undoubtedly thumping their chests right now. First there is a successful attack before the elections, they influence the result of that election, and then the winner declares that Spain will withdraw from Iraq", Selin says.

Selin feels that the terrorists have been sent a dangerous message.

"The clear message should always be that terrorism does not pay. The intent of the attack was to influence the Spanish elections. Now there is reason to use all means available to cut off the networks of these types of terrorist groups and to bring the perpetrators to justice. This must not be repeated", Paavo Selin emphasises.

Selin reiterates his revulsion

over the attack in Spain.

"There is something nauseatingly disgusting in this. The human suffering and grief linked with the event are immense. We have to make life more uncomfortable for groups committing terrorist acts. Tough measures must be taken against the organisations' recruitment, financing, and camp maintenance."

Selin points out that in the midst of the chaos, people seem to have forgotten that Europe was a target of terrorists already before action was taken against Iraq. An estimated 70,000 Islamist militants have been trained for armed action at military camps in Afghanistan and in Koran schools in Pakistan. "Where are they, and what kinds of plans do they have?"

"There is no point in thinking that pulling individual military units out of Iraq would save Western countries from future attacks by Islamist extremists. An unstable situation in Iraq and other crisis centres in the world offers a platform for growth for terrorist action."

Selin feels that actions taken under US leadership have made life more difficult for terrorists.

"Communications between organisations have been disrupted, arrests have been made, and direct contacts from the central leadership to the so-called fighting cells have weakened. According to our estimate, the greatest threat now comes from small groups that operate fairly independently."

Finland will hold the world championships in athletics in 2005, and the EU Presidency in the second half of 2006. However, Finland has not been seen in any statistics on target countries of terrorism.

"The activities of the Finnish state have not sparked interest among religious extremist groups. Finland would become a target if the idea spreads that by attacking here it might be possible to influence Europe and the Western countries in general."

Selin believes, partly for professional reasons, that "the terrorists will lose this game".

"Developing methods of fighting terrorism; monitoring and surveillance, arrests, investigation of crimes, preventing recruitment, and many other measures are constantly narrowing the possibilities of terrorists to act. Now we are living a time in which these small groups occasionally succeed in their atrocities, but in spite of this, we will get on top of the situation before long", Selin believes.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.3.2004