Terrorist Acts Decline in U.S., Mayors Told

A Reagan Administration terrorism expert told a conference of U.S. mayors Monday that, although Americans are the No. 1 targets of international terrorism, attacks inside the United States are on the decline.

Robert B. Oakley, ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism, said at the annual convention of the U.S. Conference of Mayors that there had been only seven terrorist incidents in the United States in 1985, none with international connections.

U.S. law enforcement officials broke up 23 attempts before they could be carried out, he said.

“For the past decade, U.S. citizens and installations have been far and away the No. 1 target for terrorists,” he said. “Inside the United States, the trend has been just the reverse.”

‘Intelligence-Gathering’

The number of terrorist incidents in the United States has declined steadily since 1982, he told the more than 150 mayors attending the convention.

The mayors will consider a resolution Wednesday, the last day of the convention, calling for the federal government to clarify jurisdictional responsibilities between the FBI and local police in the event of terrorism.

The resolution encourages cities “to engage in intelligence-gathering efforts that will assist in preventing terrorist incidents.”

Oakley said there was little to indicate that terrorism was being imported to the United States.

In 1984, 28 Americans were killed in international terrorism, Oakley said. “I’m sure more than that were killed as a result of violence in (New York City’s) Central Park,” he said.