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| Terror Networks | |
| Intelligence the weak point in defeating Al-Qaeda, says expert | |
| 2008-09-12 | |
| (AKI) - Penetrating Al-Qaeda is the key challenge for American and other western intelligence services, according to author and commentator Abdel Bari Atwan. Atwan is the Palestinian-born editor of London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi and author of a successful book on the terror network. "The United States is well prepared against an Al-Qaeda attack in terms of security at airports and other sensitive sites," Atwan told Adnkronos International (AKI). "But intelligence remains a real problem - penetrating Al-Qaeda is extremely difficult, because of geography, loyalty and ideology," Atwan stated.
Like the Italian Mafia, Al-Qaeda relies on "one-to-one communication", conversations and verbal and handwritten messages, which make it difficult for intelligence services to eavesdrop, Atwan said. "Al-Qaeda's field commanders are under the direct supervision of its leadership. So it could go back to outside attacks," said Atwan. "It is now more capable of carrying out similar attacks (to the 9/11 attacks on US cities), but with different means. "Dirty bombs, chemical or biological weapons - these are easier than hijacking aeroplanes," he said. Atwan said since Al-Qaeda returned to its "safe haven" in Afghanistan, it has enjoyed support from local tribes and from the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. "Before 9/11 most Taliban were against Al-Qaeda and wanted to surrender Osama Bin Laden to the US, because they wanted to keep control of Afghanistan and gain international recognition." Only the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and those close to him objected to handing over Bin Laden and pressured him not to use Afghanistan as a springboard for his attacks, Atwan stated. "Now there is a common enemy - the US and its allies," he said. "Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still on the run: the US has never managed to capture them. It has had recent successes against the second tier of leadership but the first tier is still at large," Atwan stated. He said Afghanistan, which is surrounded by seven countries, is "the belly-button of Asia". Besides freedom of movement, the country's geographical position gives Al-Qaeda's leadership access to the outside world, and allows it to bring in new recruits to be trained and indoctrinated, Atwan pointed out. "This gives the new recruits experience of warfare, of making chemical and other types of bombs, including car bombs," Atwan said. Before Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on the United States, suicide bomb attacks were unheard of in Afghanistan. Now, the terror network is importing lethal suicide bombings from Iraq, where over 900 have been carried out, he claimed. "This makes it very dangerous. There have been many suicide attacks, both by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, coordinated between the two groups," he said. Pakistan's new President, Asif Ali Zardari, is "too weak" to have a major role in the the US-led fight against militants believed to be hiding out in the region bordering Afghanistan. "I predict the army will turn against him. He is in danger, and in the end, the army will take over the country," Atwan concluded. Atwan is the author of The Secret History of Al-Qaeda, which has been translated into 15 languages. He also interviewed Bin Laden in November 1996. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Penetrating Al-Qaeda is the key challenge Just use penetrator rounds. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-12 17:23 |
| #1 Freedom of movement? On a donkey maybe. This guy is giving them way too much credit. They hide in a cave, that's how they have stayed alive. Not really that inspiring of a tale to be honest. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-12 06:53 |