Al-Qaeda has been forced to regroup its core leadership with some of the key operatives moving out of the tribal regions into urban compounds in Pakistan to escape the American unmanned spy drones which have killed 20 terrorist commanders in the last 18 months. They have moved into urban areas, where aerial surveillance is far more complicated, and have been replaced by a younger generation of militants who now control operations on the ground.
Although Osama bin Laden remains the figurehead leader, a 15-member "shura" or supreme council now runs the organisation's affairs, senior Pakistani intelligence sources say. The sources have disclosed that the council is headed by a Saudi national, Mustafa abul al-Yazidi. Other senior members include a Libyan, Abu Yahaya al-Libbi, along with militants from North Africa and Somalia. Al-Yazidi is in overall charge of al-Qaeda operations in the region, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Pakistani intelligence officials told The Times.
| So it might even be true. |
The Americans have been aiming their Predator strikes at the so-called "external operations unit", responsible for all operations abroad. The head of this unit used to be Abu Obeida al-Masri, an Egyptian, but he died from disease. He was replaced by Abu Jihad al-Masri Khakaina, who was killed by a Predator strike. He in turn was succeeded by Osama al-Kini, a Kenyan who was also killed by a Predator, along with Ahmed Salim Swedan, in a strike in January. The Pakistani intelligence sources said Mustafa abul al Yazidi, the Saudi, had succeded al-Kini. A senior Pakistani intelligence official said: "Some 60 to 70 per cent of the core al-Qaeda leadership has been eliminated, dealing a serious blow to the network's capacity to launch any major attack on the West."
The new leadership comes from Somalia, Libya and other north African countries. They use the most modern means of communication for contact with their sleeper cells abroad. Over the past years there has also been a major influx of new operatives, largely from Somalia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and North Africa. 
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