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Help wanted: Al Qaida struggling to replace lost leaders The Al Qaida terrorist group is working to replace leaders who have been captured or killed, according to a CIA official. Osama Bin Laden's terrorist group was especially damaged by the 2003 capture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. According to the official, a senior Al Qaida official said of Mohammed's capture, "the loss of Khalid Sheik Mohammed was like the melting of an iceberg. We can never replace him." Still, the group is filling its leadership ranks with less capable Islamist terrorists. "We're seeing an effort by Al Qaida to replace 'behind,'" the official said. "They can't replace with the kind of people they had before." The group also lost its key safe haven of Afghanistan and is trying to establish a foothold in post-Saddam Iraq. The recent alliance between Abu Musab al Zarqawi and Bin Laden is viewed as an effort by Al Qaida to reestablish a base of operations. Without a safe haven, Al Qaida leaders have to worry about security more so than in the past, the official said. The group also is having problems working in urban areas, like Pakistani cities. There are also indications that Al Qaida has splintered into two major movements. U.S. intelligence officials describe one as "Al Qaida central" and the other a larger, decentralized Islamist extremist movement. "Al Qaida central is plotting and we think they're involved in some of the current plotting, and you also have in parallel a global movement of people not necessarily close to or linked to Al Qaida, but who themselves are plotting as well," the official sai d. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
