>>Extremist group al Qaeda suspected of U.S. attack
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda, a network of extremists suspected of the stunning terror attack on
America, was formed by Islamic fighters resisting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and has mushroomed into dozens of
cells around the globe, analysts said on Thursday.
Radical factions from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, other Gulf states, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Algeria, Morocco
and elsewhere formed a loose network after the 1991 Gulf War when the U.S. military drove Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait,
analysts said.
"There are a lot of dual memberships. If they carried cards in their wallets, a lot of these folks would have an al Qaeda card
and they would also have a Harakat card as a Kashmiri or a GIA card as an Algerian," a U.S. intelligence official said,
referring to extremist groups.
Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda or "the Base," became a magnet for factions of radical Islamic groups seeking a
more fundamentalist brand of government in their home countries and joined in common hatred for the United States and
Israel, analysts said.
"They see it as a long-term war against that panoply of enemies of theirs, the U.S. and the Zionists and their lackeys among
the moderate Muslim governments," the intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.
"If you want to see the closest to what they have in mind it's the Taliban," the official said, referring to the ruling power of
Afghanistan, where bin Laden has been living.
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday was the first U.S. official to publicly say what others had said privately, that
bin Laden's network was suspected in Tuesday's attacks on New York and Washington.
ONCE FRIENDLY
One irony is that bin Laden and his followers once were considered freedom fighters friendly with the United States
because they shared the goal of driving the Soviets out of Afghanistan. But that sentiment ended with the 1991 Gulf War.
"It grew out of the Arab volunteers after the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989," Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East expert at
the Congressional Research Service, said of al Qaeda.
"We were helping them get the infidels out of Islamic territory which was Afghanistan, but then according to bin Laden and
al Qaeda, we then became an occupier by sending troops to Saudi Arabia, so then they had to start fighting us," Katzman
said.
The United States has accused bin Laden of masterminding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa. U.S.
officials have also said his network is suspected of being involved in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole
warship in Yemen.
Radical Egyptians comprise the biggest single block of al Qaeda, which has members operating in an estimated 35 to 60
countries, including the United States, analysts said.
Katzman said bin Laden was estimated to have about $300 million in personal financial assets with which he funds a
network of as many as 3,000 militants. The group is also funded by businesses such as fisheries, jewelry, and construction.
The strongest ties are among those who fought the Soviets together, analysts said.
"They all either know each other personally or have relatives who know each other," Katzman said.
"It's sort of like the veterans of World War II. After the war many of them kept in touch and continued to be friends," he
said. "It's the same thing except these kept fighting," Katzman said, referring to al Qaeda.
Group members communicate through encrypted telephones and e-mails and other secure methods, and they travel a lot
and pass messages face-to-face, analysts said.
Tuesday's operation was planned well in advance, so "it's not as if you're talking about the need for a lot of phone calls the
day before," the intelligence official said.
The attackers could have had long-term instructions to move to particular cities, contact certain people, who in turn would
fill them in on the rest of the plan, the official said, stressing that this was conjecture at this point.
Perhaps closer to the operation all that was needed was a "go, no go" decision and a date, messages that would be easy to
send and disguise, the intelligence official said.
But even if al Qaeda were wiped out, other anti-American extremist groups exist, analysts said. "Al Qaeda is not the alpha
or omega of international terrorism," the intelligence official said. <<
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