Al-Qaida was established by Osama bin Laden in 1988 to expand the resistance movement against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan into a pan-Islamic resistance movement. Al-Qaida's religious inspiration comes mostly from the philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood, many of its senior leaders were initially members of this organisation. Al-Qaida does not adhere officially to a particular sect, but its philosophy is Salafist; the ultimate goal of al-Qaida is to establish a Caliphate across the Islamic world. It is working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow secular, or Western-supported regimes. It sees western governments (particularly the US Government) as interfering in the affairs of Islamic nations in the interests of western corporations.
4.2.1 History of al-Qaida
Al-Qaida evolved from the Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK), a mujahedeen resistance
organization fighting the Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Osama
bin Laden was a founding member of the MAK along with the Palestinian militant
Abdullah Azzam. The role of the MAK was to channel funds from a variety
of sources into training mujahedeen from around the world in guerrilla combat.
Towards the end of the Soviet occupation, many mujahedeen wanted to broaden their operations to participate in Islamist struggles in other parts of the world. A number of overlapping and interrelated organisations were formed to further those aspirations. After Azzam was assassinated in 1989, the MAK split into various fractions. One of these was al-Qaida. Bin Laden wished to extend the conflict to non-military operations in other parts of the world. Moving from MAK to al-Qaida involved training the members in terrorist tactics.
After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia, while al-Qaida continued its training operations in Afghanistan. During the Gulf War he criticised the Saudi Government for harboring American troops on Saudi soil and, as a result, he was obliged to leave Saudi Arabia. In 1991, Sudan's National Islamic Front, an Islamist group which had recently gained power, invited al-Qaida to move his operations to their country. For several years, al-Qaida ran several businesses in Sudan. The organisation had also a number of camps where they trained would-be terrorists in the use of firearms and explosives.
In 1996 al-Qaida was expelled from Sudan after it was accused of participating in the 1994 attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. An Afghan warlords invited al-Qaida to come back to Afghanistan. There, bin Laden quickly established ties with the Taliban group led by Mohammed Omar. By providing funds and weapons he helped the group to rise to power. Thereafter al-Qaida enjoyed the Taliban's protection, and a measure of legitimacy as part of their Ministry of Defense. Thousands of militant Muslims from around the world received military-style training in the al-Qaida's camps.
In February 1998 al-Qaida, through its leaders bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad issued, a "fatwa" under the cover of "the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders" saying that "to kill Americans and their allies, civilians and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim." The embassy bombings in East Africa, which resulted in upwards of 300 deaths, was al-Qaida's first major terrorist action.
Following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack -blamed on al-Qaida- the United States invaded Afghanistan, and deposed the Taliban government for harboring al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Battles between the US and remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida forces still go on in 5. As a result of this invasion the al-Qaida training camps were destroyed, and much of its operating structures were disrupted if not destroyed.
4.2.2 Al-Qaida terrorist actions
Al-Qaida does not have the habit of taking credit, or boasting, over how
many attacks the group has made. Following the declaration of war on terrorism
in 2001, the US government tried to connect as many groups and actions as
possible to al-Qaida; this might result in erroneous attribution of responsibility.
- December 29, 1992, the local associates of Osama bin Laden put a bomb
in a hotel in Aden, Yemen. Two Austrian tourists were killed after some
US soldiers had just left.
- February 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in an underground parking of the World
Trade Centre in New York City. Six people were killed and about 1,000 wounded.
- October 3, 1993 al-Qaida claimed to have shot down two Black Hawk US helicopters
in Mogadishu, Somalia; 18 US servicemen were killed.
- Al-Qaida members Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheik Mohammed planned to destroy
airplanes in flight over the mid-Pacific using explosives. An apartment
fire in Manila, Philippines, exposed the plan before it could be carried
out. Youssef was arrested, but Mohammed evaded capture until 2003.
- Al-Qaida is believed to be responsible for a bombing at a US military
facility in Riyadh in November 1995, which killed two Indians and five Americans.
- Al-Qaida is also thought to be responsible for the 1996 Khobar Towers
bombing which killed American military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
This attack is however also ascribed to Hizbullah.
- August 7, 1998, the US Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi,
Kenya, were bombed killing 224 people and wounding 5,000, mostly local.
Twelve US citizens were among the dead.
- October 12, 2000, a suicide bomber killed 17 US Servicemen in a bomb attack
on the USS Cole in Aden harbour, Yemen.
- January 3, 2000, al-Qaida planned attacks against US and Israeli tourists
visiting Jordan but the Jordanian authorities thwarted the planned attacks
and put 28 suspects on trial.
- Al-Qaida attempted the bombing of the Los Angeles International Airport
during the millennium holiday, although the bomber, Ahmed Ressam, was caught
at the US-Canadian border with bombs in the trunk of his car.
- Al-Qaida planned to attack USS The Sullivans, but that effort failed due
to too much weight being put on the small boat meant to bomb the ship.
- The most destructive al-Qaida attacks took place in the USA on September
11, 2001. Four planes were hijacked; two were flown into the World Trade
Centre towers in New York City and one into the Pentagon. The fourth one
crashed in a rural area in Pennsylvania. About 3,000 people died.
- Richard Reid (who proclaimed himself a follower of Osama bin Laden) tried
to destroy the American Airlines flight 63 from Paris to Miami December
22, 2001. His sneakers were filled with explosives but, luckily, a flight
attendant saw him trying to light a fuse.
- January 22, 2002, four Indian policemen were shot dead at a US centre
in Calcutta.
- Daniel Pearl, a journalist with the Wall Street Journal was kidnapped
in Karachi, Pakistan, on January 23, 2002 by a group with links to al-Qaida.
He was beheaded a few days later.
- March 17, 2002, five people were killed in a grenade attack on a congregation
in a Karachi church.
- April 11, 2002, a lorry exploded near the ancient Jewish shrine of El
Griba in Djerba, Tunisia, killing 14 Germans, 5 Tunisians and a Frenchman.
- May 8, 2002, a suicide bomber killed 11 French navy experts and 3 Pakistani
in Karachi, Pakistan.
- June 14, 2002, a suicide bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi killed
12 people and injured 45 more.
- August 6, 2002, gunmen in Pakistan killed six Christians.
- October 6, 2002, a suicide attack on the French super tanker Limburg off
the coast of Yemen killed one crewmember.
- October 8, 2002, an attack on US military personnel in Kuwait killed one
US soldier and wounded another.
- October 12, 2002, the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, killed
188 people, mostly westerners and wounded 234 others.
- October 18, 2002, three people were killed and 22 injured when a bus was
bombed in Manila.
- October 28, 2002, linked to the shooting of US diplomat Laurence Foley
in Amman, Jordan.
- November 28, 2002, the bombing of the Israeli owned hotel Paradise in
Mombassa, Kenya, killed 15 people and injured 40 others. This was followed
by the launching of two missiles that missed an Israel holiday plane.
- May 12, 2003, suspected to be behind the bombing of three housing estates
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing at least 39 people and wounding 200.
- May 16, 2003, bombers exploded at least five bombs in Casablanca, Morocco,
killing 45 people including 12 bombers, and injuring 60.
- June 7, 2003, a suicide bomber hit a German peacekeepers bus near Kabul
killing 4 of them and wounding 31. An Afghan civilian and the bomber were
also killed.
- August 5, 2003, a bomb killed 10 people and injured 150 at a Marriott
hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
- August 19, 2003, a truck bomb devastated the UN headquarters in Baghdad
killing 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy in
Iraq.
- November 15, 2003, two Synagogues were bombed in Istanbul, Turkey, including
the main one, Bath Israel Synagogue. The bomb hit the buildings at prayer
time on the Sabbath; 23 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.
- November 20, 2003, two car bombs exploded at the HSBC bank and the British
consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 32 people -including the consul,
Roger Short- and wounding more than 400.
- March 11, 2004, some stations and commuters trains were bombed in Madrid.
A London newspaper reported receiving an email from a group affiliated with
al-Qaida, claiming responsibility. A videotape claiming responsibility was
also found. About 200 people died and more than 1,000 wounded.
- June 7, 2004, al-Qaida threatened to shoot down some civilian American
planes as well as some of their allies.
On July 24, 2004, "Islamic Tawhid Group", an al-Qaida organization, threatened Australia and Italy with attacks if they did not pull their troops out of Iraq. The Web site statement said the group would attack both countries if their demands were not met. It was their second such statement in a week. On July 21 the group threatened Bulgaria and Poland with similar attacks if they do not also pull out their soldiers from Iraq. The group also threatened to attack Australian interests in Arab and Muslim countries. "Our arms are long and we can reach whoever we want, whenever we want." "Follow the path of the Philippines and Spain. It is the path which guarantees you a safe and secure life."
4.2.3 Organisation and structure
Al-Qaida has strong links with a number of other Islamic terrorist organizations
including the Indonesian Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Al-Qaida has a network structure -as opposed to hierarchical structure- and that is both its strength and its weakness. The decentralized structure enables al-Qaida to have a worldwide base; however, acts involving a high degree of organization, such as the September 11 attacks, take time and effort. American efforts to disrupt al-Qaida have been partially successful, and the attacks attributed to al-Qaida since then have been simpler, and involved fewer persons.
Though the current structure of al-Qaida is unknown, information mostly
acquired from the defector Jamal al-Fadl provided American authorities with
a rough picture of how the group was organized.
- Bin Laden is the emir of al-Qaida (although originally this role may have
been filled by Abu Ayoub al-Iraqi); he is advised by a shura council, which
consists of senior al-Qaida members.
- The Military committee is responsible for training, weapons acquisition,
and planning terrorist attacks.
- The Money/Business committee runs business operations.
- The travel office provides air tickets and false passports.
- The payroll office pays al-Qaida members.
- The Management office oversees money-making businesses.
- The Law committee reviews Islamic law and decides if particular courses
of action conform to the law.
- There was once a Media committee, which ran the now-defunct newspaper
Nashrat al Akhbar; it was also resonsible for public relations.
4.2.4 Did US actions create and/or support al-Qaida?
Some people believe that al-Qaida would not have come into being without
the US funding and training given to the Afghan mujahedeen fighting the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. But the Pakistani military
regime also supplied the most extreme Islamist Afghan fighters with imported
weaponry.
Critics of US and Western policies in the Middle East and worldwide note
that some of their actions have caused a great deal of opposition among
Arab and Islamic people; they regard terrorism as a predictable reaction.
Examples of controversial policies are:
- Perceived favoritism towards Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians
and other Arab countries.
- US support of some dictators in the Middle East.
- The US bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan in 1998
suspected of being a chemical weapons facility partly owned by Osama Bin
Laden; it fact, it was producing mainly aspirin.
- The use of Saudi Arabian bases by allied forces after 1991. Being the
birthplace of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula is seen as a Holy Land under
Islam where non-believers do not belong.
- Repeated military actions against Iraq by the US and the UK from 1991
to 2003 were followed by the invasion of the country. Arab cuntries, and
even the majority of the worldwide opinion, opposed the war.
- The CIA covert coup d'état in Iran in 1953, replacing a Prime Minister
Mossadegh (who had nationalized Iran's oil) with Reza Pahlavi, whose dictatorship
and oppressive government helped cause the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
4.2.5 Al-Qaida, the Taliban, and Afghanistan
The Taliban took Kabul at the end of 1996 and from then ruled Afghanistan.
Osama bin Laden moved to Kandahar in 1997 from where he was able to run
his worldwide terrorist organisation, al-Qaida. The Taliban let him do what
he wanted in exchange for money and the help of his warriors when needed.
Osama bin Laden soon became the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's friend.
It is believed that he gave the Taliban about 100 million dollars in five
years, most of it coming from donations by Muslims of other countries. Osama
bin Laden and al-Qaida soon started building training camps all over Afghanistan.
Thousand fundamentalist Muslins volunteers willing to fight the Jihad (the
Holy War against the Infidels, the non-Muslims) have gone through these
camps. Apparently the best fighters were offered to work for al-Qaida while
the others were sent back to their countries to work for their national
organisations. In addition to the usual military training (use of guns,
explosives, radio communication,...), they participated in orthodox religious
seminars. There they were explained why the Jihad is necessary, and that
it is imposed in the Koran. Moreover, they were repeatedly told that those
who die fighting the Jihad war become martyrs for Islam; they are going
to paradise where 70 virgins are waiting each of them. The number of al-Qaida
fighters was estimated to be around 5,000 in 2001. Most of them came from
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Chechnya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, Somalia, Singapore, Algeria, Tunisia, Kuwait and the United
Arab Emirates. Pakistani embassies around the world were known for granting
easy visas to all Muslims giving "preaching" as the reason of
their visit. Crossing into Afghanistan was then easy, and no border stamps
were put on their passports.
Al-Qaida gets its money from foreign fundamentalists who feel morally obliged to contribute financially to the Jihad, if they cannot personally participate in it. Some financial organisations, often disguised as charities, collect the money and put it at al-Qaida's disposal. Huge sums of money are put together in this way.
At the beginning of August 2002, the American defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, ordered the head of the US Special Forces, General Charles Holland, to increase the hunt for senior al-Qaida leaders. It is true that until now the American cannot boast too much about their achievements in Afghanistan. They bombed a country already destroyed by more than 20 years of war, brought it into submission, and killed lots of civilians with the help of the Northern Alliance.
Now the US is considering sending assassination squads in any country of the world to kill al-Qaida leaders, even without informing the local government. It is well known that the CIA has done it before, directly or using local killers, but what they suggest to do now is totally unacceptable. Let us hope that if some of these US killers are caught, they will be punished according to the local law.
The American television networks CNN and CBS acquired 64 videotapes in Afghanistan showing how the al-Qaida fighters were trained for war and to make explosives, as well as some new footage of Osama bin Laden. These tapes also show some experiments where dogs are killed by poison gas, probably Sarin, the gas used in the attack on the Tokyo subway a few years ago. If the tapes were true, and not propaganda toys made by the US, they would show that al-Qaida has some chemical and biological weapons. Initially CNN said that they did not pay any money to get them but, later on, they admitted that they pay $30,000! What is the real cost, if it was not US propaganda?
In June 2002, the FBI and the CIA admitted that the quick victory over the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan had increased, and not decreased, the terrorist threat to the west. The war disrupted Osama bin Laden's network, but spread the threat around the world together with the surviving al-Qaida members.
At the end of August 2002, an United Nations report admitted that the al-Qaida terrorists had still access to most of their money; that would allow them to strike again in the near future. Moreover, according to the CIA director, George Tenet, the surviving al-Qaida members are regrouping and, in mid-October 2002, they represent the same danger that they did in summer 2001.
In August 2002, Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban, was back in Afghanistan where he is living in remote hideouts in the south of the country, possibly in Oruzgan, the remote and mountainous province north of Kandahar, where he grew up. He fled for some time in Pakistan but, according to American intelligence, he came back to his country some time ago. The US tried to locate him but, until now, they failed.
In October 2002, the Kurds said -but without showing any evidence for it- that al-Qaida was now running training camps in northern Iraq with the support of the Ansar al-Islam (supporters of Islam). The Kurds believed that 150 al-Qaida members who fled from Afghanistan were present there at that time. Do we really believe that such a force is a threat to the US? The US military authorities revealed that they are planning an attack on the region to destroy these fighters, if they really exist at all. However, this information, coming from the Kurds who have everything to win from a change of regime in Iraq, is not credible. To make sure that the Americans are interested, the Kurds added that some tests of chemical and biological weapons took place there, and that Ansar men taken prisoners admitted that their group receive money from Iran, Saudi Arabia and, of course, Iraq. How convenient!
On Thursday November 21, 2002, the US captured a senior al-Qaida leader, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, described as the chief of operation in the Persian Gulf. He is accused to have participated in the planning of the embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998 and the October 2000 attack on the American destroyer USS Cole in Yemen. It is not known where he was captured, or where he is held; his captors said that he was cooperating and answering questions.
The al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri, Saif al Adil, Kalid Ashaikh Mohammed, Saad bin Laden (oldest son of Osama bin Laden), and others are still at large at the end of November 2002. Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, Ramzi Binalshibh, Abu Zubair al Haili and Abu Zubaydah were captured while Gaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi was killed.
In December 2002 we were told that some al-Qaida training camps have been reactivated in eastern Afghanistan and that Islamist volunteers are again being trained there. Osama bin Laden financial network has been fairly well dismantled, but the group still has a lot of money. Later on interim President Karzai denied this information.
Two al-Qaida men collecting money in Britain for the terrorist organisation have been sentenced to 11 years in jail on April 1, 2003. Brahim Benmerzouga and Baghdad Meziane, both Algerian, have been sentenced at the Leicester crown court for raising about £200,000 by credit card fraud. They were also involved in recruitment activities. The money is believed to have been used to finance the training camps in Afghanistan.
On April 26, 2003, new "so-called proofs" trying to link again Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida were "discovered". Documents, allegedly found by a British journalist in the ruins of the headquarters of the Iraqi secret service, the Mukhabarat, mention that negotiations for a possible alliance between Iraq and al-Qaida took place in 1998. It is not surprising that such "incriminating documents" are found by journalists and not by the American troops; nobody would believe them to be real if found by soldiers. A few days later even the Americans played down any possible links between Iraq and al-Qaida.
On October 16, 2003, the media said that the war in Iraq has increased the number of al-Qaida members and hardened their will to fights to defend the honour of the Muslims. Already before, the British MI5 and MI6 had issued the same warning, while the Americans said that al-Qaida was on the run after about 3,000 suspected members had been arrested or killed.
On November 30, 2003, the US authorities said that they captured three al-Qaida members in northern Iraq. If it is true then it is the first time that al-Qaida members have been found there.
On December 19, 2003, the US Navy seized an old boat carrying nearly 2 tons of hashish in the Persian Gulf. The Naval authority said immediately that 3 of the 12 men crew were linked to al-Qaida. It was enough for the USA to say that al-Qaida was linked to the drug trade to build-up its diminishing finances. The drug seized had a street value of 8 to $10m. On December 20, two more boats (known as dhows) were seized in the northern Arabian Sea. Although the crew threw about 200 bags overboard, 85 pounds of heroin and 150 pounds of methamphetamine were found -street value ~$3m- and 21 crew members arrested. It was not clear if al-Qaida was involved.
On February 24, 2004 President Bush said, without giving any evidence, that nearly two thirds of al-Qaida leaders had been captured or killed. However, on May 25, 2004, the think-tank "International Institute of Strategic Studies" said that the results of a broad inquiry show that the invasion of Iraq has been a boost to al-Qaida that was able to recruit many members, and increase worldwide terrorism. They estimate that al-Qaida has at least 18,000 members in 60 countries.
4.2.6 Al-Qaida's Threat
- On June 10, 2002, the US claimed to have uncovered an al-Qaida plot to
detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb", possibly in Washington DC.
They arrested a US citizen in Chicago airport on his way back from Pakistan
and Afghanistan where it is said that he learned to build such a device.
His name is Jose Padilla who, while in jail, became a Muslim and changed
his name to al-Muhajir. In August 2002, the FBI had to admit that, at the
best, Jose Padilla talked about a possible dirty bomb but did not start
to make it, had no radioactive material, and had no plan how and where to
use it. At the best he could be accused of planning an attack on the base
of information obtained from the former al-Qaida's head of recruitment,
Abu Zubaydah, a senior aide of Osama bin Laden, kept in prison in Pakistan.
All that is known about al-Muhajir is that he was arrested May 8 at Chicago
airport and sent to a military prison in Charleston, South Carolina. There
he will be kept in isolation without any contact with anybody, without access
to a lawyer, and for an indefinite amount of time as he was classified as
a national who helped the enemy.
- In June 2002, the Moroccan police arrested three Saudi citizens and the
Moroccan wives of two of them. They are accused of plotting to attack American
and British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar with inflatable dinghies
loaded with explosives. They apparently admitted that they are part of the
al-Qaida network.
- At the end of June 2002, al-Qaida was said to threaten the US with Cyber-terrorism.
These terrorists would be planning to attack America by hacking into the
US computer networks aiming to disrupt electricity and telephone systems,
dams, and nuclear power stations. Are these "peasant" Muslims
so sophisticated to be able to do these things to America? The US security
people are repeatedly telling that the danger could come in so many ways,
but nobody is listening anymore. People believe that the politicians are
covering themselves by shouting wolf all the time. The danger is that when
there will be a real danger, nobody will listen to the warnings.
- According to the Washington Post of December 11, 2002, the US has received
a credible report that some terrorists affiliated to al-Qaida were given
chemical weapons by Iraq some weeks ago. The newspaper said that it was
probably the nerve agent VX. The White House does not know anything about
it, and they have no evidence that Saddam Hussein authorised such a transaction.
- On May 8, 2003, it was revealed that al-Qaida had restructured itself,
and was planning new spectacular attacks against US interests. Al-Qaida's
new spokesman, Thabet bin Qais, denied that his organisation had been rendered
inoffensive, and explained that familiar faces had been replaced by newcomers
"who have a very good security cover," and are unknown to the
American intelligence agencies. This is not the first time that this kind
of information is given to the newspapers by the American authorities. In
the past they resulted to be false, and nothing happened. This time we do
not know. This information came after the Saudi government said that it
had prevented a suspected al-Qaida plot to kill members of the country's
royal family. Local authorities seized arms and documents, but the terrorists
escaped after a gun battle.
- On May 19, 2003, the US authorities revealed that thousands of al-Qaida
activists are ready to attack western interests and people all over the
world. After the coalition killed thousand of civilians in Afghanistan and
Iraq, bombing from 30,000 feet, using cluster bombs in order to minimise
the number of their soldiers killed, what could they expect? Bush's claims
of success in his war on terrorism have been too optimistic. Anti-western
terrorists are there, and they will fight us if only for revenge.
- Also on May 19, 2003, the Saudi and American authorities issued renewed
warnings that more terrorist attacks could take place in the next few days
in Saudi Arabia, and possibly in the USA. Al-Qaida recovered its strength
and is now again fully operative after regrouping. The Egyptian Saif al-Adel
is believed to be the new al-Qaida military chief and the man responsible
for the recent bombings in Riyadh.
- The US raised its state of alert on May 20 as intelligence reports indicated
that al-Qaida is planning attacks in the next few days on American soil
and western interests in the world. The US, Britain and Germany closed their
embassies in Riyadh for a few days as well as some consular offices.
- On February 9, 2004, the US military authorities claimed to have discovered
a plot by al-Qaida to stir civil war in Iraq with the help of religious
extremists. A 17-pages letter to senior al-Qaida fighters was intercepted.
Their help was requested to start a "sectarian war" in Iraq. The
letter, believed to be from Abu Musab al-Zaqawi, was found on a computer
disk during a house search in Baghdad. If this letter were genuine, it would
prove that al-Qaida is now operating in Iraq.
- A self-proclaimed al-Qaida member calling himself "Azzam the American"
sent a videotape in October 2004 to the ABC television network. In it he
is threatening attacks on the US soil. On November 10, 2004, the video was
thought to be by a Californian terror suspect wanted by the FBI. His real
name is believed to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn. He frequented the al-Qaida training
camps in Afghanistan, and worked as a translator for al-Qaida.
- On November 12, 2004, the former Taliban head in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammed
Omar said that he intends to retake control of Afghanistan. He promised
to do his best to get rid of the American puppet government headed by Hamid
Karzai. He added that he still believe that he was right not to hand over
Osama bin Laden to the USA after September 11, 2001. Handing him over would
have saved the Taliban regime, but at the cost of Afghan honour.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Tuesday October
19, 2004, that the war in Iraq has increased the risk of terrorism against
the West, at least for the short term. The IISS added a section on Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaida network to "The Military Balance," its authoritative
yearly defence handbook, which lists the size and capabilities of the world's
armed forces. It said that about half of al-Qaida's 30 top leaders had been
killed or captured since the September 11, 2001, attacks, but about 20,000
militants who trained in camps in Afghanistan remain at large with varying
levels of capability and motivation.