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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Investor Clouseau who wrote (19583)	10/30/2002 10:43:45 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Al-Qaeda's 6 new masters of terror WASHINGTON -- The Al-Qaeda terror network has a new leadership of six men who previously worked in the shadow of their chief Osama bin Laden, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The six were identified by United States and European intelligence since Osama and his lieutenants -- whether dead, ill, injured or on the run -- cannot manage the reins of the network. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama's No 2 man, is believed to have had his ability to manage network cells hurt by US operations in Afghanistan after the Sept 11 terror strikes on US targets. Riduan Isamuddin, 'an Indonesian known as Hambali' and 'Al-Qaeda's liaison to loose-knit radical Islamic groups in South-east Asia', is the suspected mastermind of the Bali bomb attacks. Saad bin Laden, a son of the Al-Qaeda leader believed to have been trained to succeed him, is believed to be at large. Middle Eastern in origin, the six made a big mark in the past with painstaking preparation of attacks on two US embassies in Africa in 1998 and on the USS Cole in 2000 off Yemen. The Post reported: 'Intelligence officials view these men's emerging roles within Al-Qaeda as proof that the group can adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and regenerate its leadership.' The new leaders 'have been there from the beginning, but were in the shadows, not the most visible people', according to a European intelligence analyst. The six are believed to have met for the first time training Somalis, who then killed 18 US troops in an October 1993 clash. They have now become responsible for planning attacks worldwide and financing them, according to the daily. 'The strength of the group is they don't need centralised command and control,' said one US intelligence official. They 'know what it is they want to do'. Prior to the Sept 11 terror strikes, Al-Qaeda was led by a tiny command unit of Osama and his lieutenants, who made major decisions and handled financing. The six now have a harder time communicating and are at separate locations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia and south Asia. The Post named Saif al-Adel, 'an Egyptian and a member of Al-Qaeda's security committee for several years'. He is 'viewed as the new military leader for the remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taleban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region'. Also named among the six were Egyptian Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who 'has become Al-Qaeda's chief financial officer, at least in Pakistan and Afghanistan'; Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian; Tawfiq bin Atash, either Saudi or Yemeni; and Rahim al-Nashri, a Yemeni. A senior US official told the Post: 'It would be much easier if we had a more centralised structure to aim at, like Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. 'Now, instead of a large, fixed target we have little moving targets all over the world, all armed and all dangerous. It is a much more difficult war to fight this way.' -- AFP