igion and terrorism do share a long history, in recent
             decades this form particular variant has largely been overshadowed by ethnic- and nationalist-separatist or
             ideologically-motivated terrorism. Indeed, none of the 11 identifiable terrorist groups10 active in 1968 (the year
             credited with marking the advent of modern, international terrorism) could be classified as "religious."11 Not
             until 1980 in fact--as a result of the repercussions from the revolution in Iran the year before--do the first
             "modern" religious terrorist groups appear:12 but they amount to only two of the 64 groups active that year.
             Twelve years later, however, the number of religious terrorist groups has increased nearly six-fold, representing
             a quarter (11 of 48) of the terrorist organisations who carried out attacks in 1992. Significantly, this trend has
             not only continued, but has actually accelerated. By 1994, a third (16) of the 49 identifiable terrorist groups
             could be classified as religious in character and/or motivation. Last year their number increased yet again, no to
             account for nearly half (26 or 46 percent) of the 56 known terrorist groups active in 1995.
             The implications of terrorism motivated by a religious imperative for higher levels of lethality is evidenced by the
             violent record of various Shi'a Islamic groups during the 1980s. For example, although these organisations
             committed only eight percent of all recorded international terrorist incidents between 1982 and 1989, they
             were nonetheless responsible for nearly 30 percent of the total number of deaths during that time period.13
             Indeed, some of the most significant terrorist acts of the past 18 months, for example, have all had some
             religious element present.14 Even more disturbing is that in some instances the perpetrators' aims have gone
             beyond the establishment of some theocracy amenable to their specific deity,15 but have embraced mystical,
             almost transce...