Osama Bin Laden
CIA director Michael Hayden said the Saudi militant Osama Bin Laden was probably hiding in the tribal area of north-west Pakistan and he is putting a lot of energy into his own survival. While he believes progress has been made in countering al-Qaeda's activities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq but al-Qaeda was still spreading in Africa and the Mid-East. Mr Hayden said other areas were showing an increase in activity, including:
#East Africa: "Al-Qaeda is engaging Somali extremists to revitalise operations... al-Qaeda could claim to be re-establishing its operations base in East Africa"
#The Maghreb: Attacks have worsened since the merger in 2006 of al-Qaeda and the Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The GSPC has renamed itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
#Yemen: Saw an "unprecedented number of attacks" in 2008, and could become a launch-pad for attacks in Saudi Arabia
#Pakistan: Safe haven has allowed al-Qaeda to train a "bench of skilled operatives"
Comments