New targets for new-look al-Qaida

Restructuring makes terror network more dangerous
Publishing Date: 18.09.07 16:44
By Gordon Thomas

LONDON -- MI6 officers in Afghanistan and Pakistan have discovered a dramatic change at the top of what they call GTI - Global Terror International - otherwise known as al-Qaida.

Secret Intelligence Service analysts, many veterans of the nine-year hunt for Osama bin Laden, believe the changes are the precursor for a new wave of terrorist outrages.

While the prime attacks remain on the United States and Britain, the restructuring at the top of echelon of GTI in the past three months has introduced a new list of targets.

"We cannot yet be absolutely certain, but there are growing indications that cities like Sydney and Melbourne and, in Europe, Copenhagen and Brussels are on the list," revealed an intelligence officer in London.

In Washington, professor Bruce Hoffman, a member of the U.S. Military Academy Combating Terrorism Center, confirmed there was strong evidence that al-Qaida's new leadership has made the terror organization now more dangerous than at any time since the 9/11 attacks. The rebuilding of the terror network also negates the repeated claims, first made in 2003 by President Bush, that "al-Qaida is no longer a serious threat."

Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, has warned "those who believe that are making a dangerous miscalculation."

The restructure has taken place within the Shura, the ruling board of management of al-Qaida. While bin Laden remains the emir, the overall leader of al-Qaida, and stressed his authority in the video he released recently, the first for three years, the changes in the Shura have been made by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the chief of operations and deputy head of al-Qaida. Four years older than bin Laden, who celebrated his 50th birthday a few months ago in his hideout in the badlands of Pakistan's North West Frontier, al-Zawahiri used the occasion to introduce the new members of the Shura, bringing its members to 25, all heading key departments.

New appointments included Adam Gadahn, a 28 year-old Californian who had converted to Islam and is known as "Azzam the American." There is a worldwide arrest warrant to bring him before a U.S. court to face charges of treason and complicity in the murder of victims of al-Qaida terrorist attacks. He served as a jihadi in Afghanistan and Iraq before becoming al-Qaida's Director of Propaganda. He is credited by MI6 analysts as having written and produced bin Laden's latest video - as well as the sixty other videos the terror organisation issued last year. "There is a sharpness about the text and high-definition DVD quality to the videos. Some are being issued in formats for cell phones," said Adam Raisman, an analyst at the Washington-based Search for International Entities Institute.

Al-Qaida's role in Iran - from where it launches its attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq - has been placed under the command of Saif al-Adel. The Egyptian-born 44 year-old is "technically under house arrest in Tehran," but in reality has full freedom to communicate with his scores of operatives.

Another new member of the Shura is Abu Obaidah al-Masri, who MI6 has established is linked to the London suicide bombings that killed 52 people in 2005. His title is that of external operations chief and he will be a key member in the new attacks the MI6 analysts believe are now in an "advanced planning stage."

A further sign al-Qaida is engaged in expanding its operations is the appointment of Atiyah Abd al-Rashman. The 38 year-old Libyan is in charge of recruiting jihadists in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Another Libyan is Abu Yahya al-Libi, a heavily bearded terrorist who escaped from the U.S. Bagram airbase in Afghanistan in 2005, is now a senior al-Qaida field commander in the country working closely with the Taliban.

Khalid Habib, another field commander, runs several groups of terrorists along the vital Afghan-Pakistan region. Between them they operate the day-to-day activities of the world's largest terrorist organisation.

Gordon Thomas, a regular G2B contributor, is the author of "Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad,", the new edition of which was published in January 2007. He specializes in international intelligence matters.