U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism

The list, which imposes strict sanctions, has remained unchanged since Sudan was added in 1993. The United States says, "Until all states that support or tolerate terrorism cease their sponsorship, whether by choice or coercion, they remain a critical foundation for terrorist groups and their operations." [1]

  • Cuba - hosts or supports members of Basque ETA and the Colombian FARC and ELN groups.
  • Iran - "continued to provide Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian rejectionist groups -- notably Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the PFLP-GC -- with varying amounts of funding, safe haven, training, and weapons. It also encouraged Hizballah and the rejectionist Palestinian groups to coordinate their planning and to escalate their activities." [1]
  • Iraq - the only Arab-Muslim country that did not condemn the September 11 attacks against the United States, it provided bases to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), and the Abu Nidal organization (ANO).
  • Libya - thought to have directly sponsored the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in Lockerbie and a disco bombing in Germany.
  • North Korea - Thought to have possibly sold weapons to terrorist groups and to have give asylum to Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction members.
  • Sudan -- "A number of international terrorist groups including al-Qaida, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egyptian al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS continued to use Sudan as a safe haven, primarily for conducting logistics and other support activities." [1]
  • Syria - "provided Hizballah, HAMAS, PFLP-GC, the PIJ, and other terrorist organizations refuge and basing privileges." [1]