The al-Qaeda network is back - slimmed down, more agile and as dangerous as ever - intelligence sources warned yesterday.
Osama bin Laden's international network has reorganised, found new means of financing and could be planning more attacks in Africa, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, German BND intelligence service said in a report published yesterday.
The sentiment was echoed in reports in the United States and followed a week when similar warnings prompted alarmed governments around the world to issue terror and travel advisories and boost security measures.
A new generation of militants was leading al-Qaeda, which killed around 3,000 people in its most spectacular strike on September 11th, 2001, in the United States, the BND report said.
The BND also said that Osama bin Laden was still alive and living in Pakistan near the Afghan border. It added that a new group, al-Muhawidun, led by Thalet Ben Aziz and based in Saudi Arabia, was organising operations.
A report in Sunday's Washington Post said the Saudi bombings and other recent attacks were conducted by "regular al-Qaeda folks" who have moved into positions of authority because previous leaders have been killed or captured. Al-Qaeda may be unleashing "as many strikes as possible in a short period of time" to prove it is still viable, the newspaper said, citing US officials and terrorism experts.
One senior official said al-Qaeda had an estimated 3,000 members - far fewer than in the 1990s - but the network is believed to be reorganising into "smaller, more disciplined units", with new leaders accustomed to operating on the run.
Authorities believe al-Qaeda has opened training camps in Sudan and established "a strong foothold" in Kenya and other parts of east Africa, as well as Pakistan and Chechnya. - (AFP)