Shrewd recruiting of young militants has allowed al-Qaeda to
re-establish itself in Osama bin Laden's homeland and around the world in
preparation for new attacks on the United States and its allies.
Al-Qaeda had not only survived the US-led crackdown against it, but was
exploiting loopholes found in its pursuers' tactics, officials in
Washington said.
Of particular concern are indications that the terrorist network has
infiltrated essentially untraceable operatives into the US. Some of them
were believed to be planning suicide bombings on soft targets such as
subway stations within the next few months, officials said.
The assessment is based partly on information gathered by US and Saudi
authorities investigating the bombings in Riyadh three weeks ago, which
killed 34 people, including an Australian and eight Americans.
"At the same time we have learnt a lot about how al-Qaeda has
operated," a US official said.
"They have done their homework and figured out ways to get people in
who can evade scrutiny and the techniques that have been successful in the
past."
US authorities believe the names of these new operatives do not appear
in the database of suspected al-Qaeda members, supporters and sympathisers
that has been built up since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York
and Washington.
"We thought we had a really good picture of it," the US official said
of al-Qaeda's present membership.
"But what we're now seeing is that there are a lot of new cells, many
of them beyond the penetration of the CIA. They're ciphers."
Authorities believe the Riyadh bombers belonged to one of several
Saudi-based al-Qaeda cells, and that hard-core members are plotting
further attacks in the kingdom.
Another Saudi-based al-Qaeda cell might be trying to sneak into the US
to launch attacks, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin
Sultan, said recently, citing evidence from the investigation.
The Riyadh investigation represents the first time FBI and CIA agents
have been given access to Saudi Arabia, an al-Qaeda recruiting centre that
played a main role in the September 11 attacks. Investigators have
allegedly uncovered details about current al-Qaeda activity in the Persian
Gulf, including evidence that its members are smuggling weapons from
Yemen.
Officials said the investigation had dispelled any idea that bin
Laden's role or that of a top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has diminished
because of their flight from Afghanistan and the continuing hunt for them.
Some senior US officials are also claiming the attacks in Saudi Arabia
were launched with bin Laden's approval.
"They don't do anything without someone going back to bin Laden," an
official said.
Los Angeles Times
