"The heat is on," noted a government official in Greece, where Revolutionary Organization 17 November and other terror groups have long targeted Western interests — and Americans in particular. In the climate of heightened cooperation following the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Greece — like other American allies — is providing the U.S. free and unfettered assistance in ongoing investigations and tightening security measures at airports, marinas, diplomatic missions and U.S. military installations. France’s special Search and Intervention Brigade (bri), set up in June to collaborate with Spanish police in their 30-year fight against the Basque separatist movement eta, claimed its first success. It arrested five people — including the alleged head of eta’s logistics arm — on suspicion of planning to steal explosives.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muslim, Serb and Croat leaders agreed to coordinate police activities, tighten border controls and strengthen passport procedures. During the Bosnian war, hundreds of passports were issued to Islamic fighters from the Middle East and Central Asia in return for their help in fighting the Serbs. Czech troops, meanwhile, took up protective positions at the Prague headquarters of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network, which broadcasts to Iraq, Iran and Central Asia, among other areas.
Reflecting U.S. silence surrounding specific military and intelligence moves, European secret services and antiterror units kept mum amid reports from Brussels that they would meet in mid-October to discuss information- and equipment-sharing, as well as possible joint training and anti-terror operations. As Interpol and the European Union’s Europol pledged to work closer together, civil liberties organizations, commentators and others across Europe raised concern that, in a new atmosphere of "emotional correctness," a rush to enact new laws and security measures could potentially erode long-cherished freedoms. In an effort to curtail money laundering in Germany, for example, support is growing for relaxation of laws on bank confidentiality. "It’s simply an example of a government using this [U.S.] tragedy to extend their powers and gain unwarranted access to the private records of its citizens," said Jürgen Jülech, a tax adviser in Brühl, near Cologne. "And I’m afraid they’re going to succeed."
"When police cooperate, the bad guys lose," says Ronald Noble, secretary-general of Interpol. But to Simon Davies, director of Privacy International — a London-based privacy and data-protection watchdog — "turf wars can be a great safeguard" against overzealous policing and "joined-up government" that collects vast amounts of data about individuals.
Britain is shaping up as a key battleground in the dispute. Unlike its Continental neighbors, the country has had no national identity card system since war-era documents were phased out in 1952, and the concept has long been anathema to most Britons. Still, Home Secretary David Blunkett says he may propose technologically sophisticated cards that would have "entitlement and citizenship" uses beyond security considerations. Privacy International vehemently opposes such "biometric" cards, which could incorporate unique physical characteristics such as fingerprints or face-recognition "landmarks." They — and any card — would do little to stop terrorism, argues Davies, and the technology would be available to criminals. "Outrage makes bad laws," the conservative Daily Telegraph noted — and Big Brother, many feel, does not need any little helpers.