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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (45027)	11/21/2003 8:01:36 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Al Qaeda has decentralised in 50 states By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda has proved to be an increasingly decentralised and unpredictable terrorist network that is believed to be operating in 50 countries. A report in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday says experts and diplomats find the recent resurgence of Al Qaeda violence as showing that Osama bin Laden’s 14-year-old terrorist fraternity is as lethal as ever, despite the US-led war on terrorism. The organisation essentially is reinventing itself to compensate for losses in its ranks, they believe. US intelligence officials say the United States has diverted more than half the personnel and technology that was targeted on Al Qaeda to the war in Iraq. “Bin Laden is believed to have escaped a dragnet in Afghanistan and remains free and in charge, but small cells in at least 50 countries seem to operate independently, striking when conditions suit their purposes and using locals as bombers, experts say. It’s unclear how much direction they receive from Al Qaeda’s surviving top leaders, such as Saif al-Adel, believed to be in Iran, and bin Laden’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri,” according to the report. Recent attacks underscore Al Qaeda’s willingness to strike in Muslim countries, spreading new waves of apprehension in Turkey and in Saudi Arabia, where security forces are pressing a border-to-border crackdown that has crushed dozens of cells and resulted in more than 600 arrests. Experts believe, however, that at least 300 hard-core supporters and more than 1,500 sympathisers remain in the kingdom. Counter-terror experts say Al Qaeda has mutated in reaction to a sustained US assault. In both Saudi Arabia and Turkey, there are indications that local groups have adopted Al Qaeda’s ideology and are trying to duplicate its methods without much external direction, says Daniel Benjamin, a former White House counter-terrorism expert. “We’re seeing a different dynamic, sort of a second stage in the development of the radical jihadist” movement, he adds. Turkey is an ideal target for Al Qaeda: an overwhelmingly secular Muslim nation that is allied with the United States and Israel. Its size, location and Muslim population also make it an attractive place to operate. Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign-affairs adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, describes Al Qaeda’s worldwide operation as “a loose federation.” The group may be in loose contact with the senior leadership through coded Internet messages or by courier. Cells are often no more than eight to 10 people, each with a specific assignment, such as driving or arranging financing, says the Saudi official. They also often consist of the operative with the most formidable assignment - that of suicide bomber.