The history article written by Bill Dyson (FBI 1967-1998) from the April 2016 issue of The Grapevine published by the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI:
The El Rukn Libyan Terrorist Conspiracy (pdf)
On the surface, the idea that a hostile foreign nation would employ a street gang located in a city in the middle of the United States to perpetrate a terrorist attack on their behalf appears to border on the absurd. Yet, this was the perplexing issue that the Chicago FBI Field Office faced in 1986. Sketchy information was being developed that indicated that such a conspiracy was developing and needed to be rapidly addressed.
As investigators studied the issue further, they realized that a conspiracy of this nature was really not all that fantastic. The Libyan government was very hostile to the United States; however, it lacked the military resources to attack U.S. forces. Terrorism was their most viable weapon; however, the groups they supported lacked the ability or desire to attack inside of the United States.
The El Rukn organization in Chicago had been presented to the Libyans by an intermediary to be a Muslim group. The Libyans had no way of knowing that the El Rukns did not practice Islam in the manner in which they did. The El Rukns were often characterized as a street gang, but in actuality were a well-organized crime syndicate that could be tempted to take a variety of actions for financial reward. To the Libyans, the El Rukns represented a weapon that they could use against the United States. To the El Rukns, the Libyans were a source of possibly big money. . . . (read the rest)
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