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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Local al-Qaeda cells pose new threat |
| 2005-07-12 |
LAST week's London bombings show a new wave of small al-Qaeda-linked cells now pose the largest terrorist threat, experts have warned. IT is believed al-Qaeda-linked groups were responsible for the London carnage and last year's deadly blasts in Madrid. Many say Osama bin Laden's leadership has dwindled since Afghanistan's Taliban leadership was forced from power by US-led forces, hindering police efforts to understand the organisation's mindset. Professor Paul Wilkinson, director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, said: "Al-Qaeda has morphed, though that doesn't mean that Osama bin Laden has been pushed into oblivion. "The core leadership is suffering from setbacks from when the Taliban was moved from power. But he still represents ideological leadership for them." Prof Wilkinson said attacks such as the London bombings and the March 2004 Madrid train blasts were likely to have been organised and financed by local branches loosely affiliated with al-Qaeda. "There is a global dispersion of groups who are not confined to one country," he said, calling it "a new kind of terrorism". "These people want a lot of people dead as well as a lot of people watching," Prof Wilkinson said. "We must recognise the need for a global strategy to unravel the cells." The new terrorist front in London was hugely significant, Nadim Shehadi, head of the Middle East Program at UK think-tank Chatham House, said. "London is a capital of the Muslim world. It is probably the only city in the world where the various parts of the Islamic world interact," Mr Shehadi said. It was important to find out if the bombers were "home-grown", the newly-retired head of London's Metropolitan Police, Sir John Stevens, has said. Sir Stevens said he believed "up to 3000 British-born or British-based people have passed through Osama bin Laden's training camps over the years". Overall, it was too early to determine if the London bombers had interacted with their Madrid counterparts or whether they were British-based, Prof Wilkinson said. "I think there is a possible combination of home-grown people with experts who have come in and brought their expertise with them," he said. "These people have never regarded Europe as off-limits. They are bitterly opposed to the values we stand for as allies of the United States, which they love to hate." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |