DETECTING AL-QAEDA

AL QAEDA (“THE BASE”)

(Osama Bin Laden Network; the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders; Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places)
ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP

Until he is captured or confirmed killed, Osama bin Laden remains the symbolic leader of al Qaeda. Under him are the “shura al-majlis”; an advisory body made up of bin Laden’s lieutenants. His closest advisor is Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician who formerly led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group. The fate of al-Zawahiri also remains unknown. A tape attributed to Zawahiri appeared on May 21, 2003, and several tapes purportedly made by bin Laden have surfaced since the war in Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda now functions on several different levels. First, there is the core leadership that developed around bin Laden and his lieutenants. The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan essentially dismantled this central hierarchy and at least temporarily hindered its ability to carry out attacks. The terrorist training camps were destroyed, thousands of fighters were captured or killed, and those that escaped were scattered. Subsequent U.S. intelligence successes, such as the March arrest of al Qaeda’s operational commander Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, have further pushed al Qaeda’s leadership to the brink of collapse. Still, new leaders may be emerging - Saif al-Adel, a weapons expert involved in the 1998 embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, has apparently filled the role of operational chief in the wake of Mohammed’s arrest.

Another element of al Qaeda is comprised of increasingly autonomous terrorist cells scattered across the globe. These groups, essentially cut off from the core organization, are now attempting to coordinate attacks on their own. Some intelligence experts view the May 2003 bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco as an indication that al Qaeda’s hierarchy has reconstituted itself, but more likely it is a sign that local cells now have the means to carry out operations without the financial or logistical involvement of the leadership.

In addition to the core group and the independent cells, al Qaeda’s model of Jihad has now evolved into a global ideological movement. The British shoe-bomber Richard Reid is an example of this type – a sympathizer who has no actual connection with al Qaeda, but performs a small-level operation in its name. The bombers who carried out the Bali bombings in 2002 also cited al Qaeda as an inspiration, though no formal connections have been established.

Recent events indicate al Qaeda still poses a significant threat to the U.S. and its allies. For the time being it seems likely that cells of the group will attack so-called soft targets in the Middle East, North Africa, and perhaps central Asia. The New York Times reported on May 17, 2003 that al Qaeda’s had reestablished operational bases and recruitment efforts in Kenya, Sudan, Pakistan and Chechnya. The Saudi government believes there are still two or three cells still operating inside the kingdom.

There have been no attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, but al Qaeda appears to be persevering in its efforts. The New York Times quotes a U.S. intelligence official who says that six Arab men have been secretly arrested in the U.S. on suspicion that they were scouting new targets to hit. The chief worry remains that al Qaeda will somehow obtain weapons of mass destruction and strike a major blow within the U.S.

IDEOLOGY

Osama bin Laden and members of al Qaeda follow a fundamentalist form of Islam known as Wahhabism. Believers, who prefer the term Muwahhiduns or Salifis, adhere to a puritanical reading of the Koran and consider all other forms of Islam to be heretical. Wahhabism is the dominant sect on the Arabian Peninsula and its influence has steadily grown since the Saudi government began to fund Wahhabi schools, known as “madrassas”, in the late 1970’s. These schools were formed throughout the Islamic world, most extensively in Pakistan where they left their mark on the future leaders of the Taliban.

Wahhabism traces its roots to the mid-1700s and its founder, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Wahhab had traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and had concluded that the ruling Turks had corrupted Islam. He espoused an austere interpretation of the Koran that included restrictions on many practices common throughout the Islamic world. These practices included the use of music during worship, the commemoration of Muhammad’s birthday, and the ornamentation of Mosques. Wahhab allied his movement with an aspiring conqueror named Muhammad ibn Saud. This close alliance with the house of Saud remains to this day.

Al Qaeda demands an end to the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia because that country hosts many Muslim holy sites. It also condemns the United States for supporting Israel in the Palestinian conflict and wants to overthrow U.S.-supported regimes in the Middle East that it considers to be illegitimate (i.e. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria), and replace them with Islamic governments. Al Qaeda’s stated goal is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs." It is fiercely opposed to the followers of Shia Islam, though this is secondary to its antagonism to Jews and the West.

Al Qaeda’s targets in the 9/11 attacks were symbolically linked to what it perceives to be the three pillars of U.S. power that “oppress” the Islamic people of the Middle East: The Pentagon representing military power, the World Trade Center representing financial hegemony, and the failed attack on the U.S. Capitol, which represents American political power.

For a more complete statement of Al Qaeda's ideology and goals, see this 1998 Fatwa that bin Laden and other radicals issued which declares a jihad against “Jews and Crusaders”.


THE ACTIVITIES OF AL QAEDA

The Al Qaeda has a long history of terrorist activity which dates back to the early 1990s. Many of their earlier operations failed to achieve the desired effect; however, experience has enabled the organization to develop a more sophisticated approach.
• Thirty-four are killed in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh when several bombs target compounds housing foreign nationals (May 12, 2003)
• Forty-one people are killed in a succession of bomb attacks in Casablanca, Morocco. The attackers are linked to Al Qaeda (May 16, 2003)
• Suicide bomber attacks U.S. consulate in Karachi. Fourteen Pakistanis are killed, several vehicles are destroyed, and embassy windows are shattered (September 5, 2002)
• Turkish citizen Osman Petmezci and his German-American girlfriend Astrid Eyzaguirre are arrested by German authorities for plotting bomb attacks against American military installations in Germany. Though not members of Al Qaeda, they claim inspiration from the terrorist organization (2002)
• American embassies in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia are closed after a plot is uncovered by U.S. intelligence. Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiah, affiliated with Al Qadea, is suspected of planning to bomb one or more of the embassies (September 11, 2002)
• A small boat carrying explosives crashes into the French oil tanker ‘Limburg’ in the port of Ash Shihir off the coast of Yemen. Al Qaeda is believed to be responsible for the attack that killed one crewmember (October 6, 2002)
• Two gunmen with suspected links to Al Qaeda attack a U.S. Marine unit on the island of Faliaka, near Kuwait City, killing Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd. The gunmen are later killed after attempting a second attack (October 8, 2002)
• Nearly 200 people are killed by a pair of bombings at a nightclub in the Balinese resort town of Kuta. Several members of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah, linked to Al Qaeda, are arrested for the attacks (October 12, 2002)
• Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel is bombed in Mombassa, Kenya, killing ten Kenyans and three Israelis. A statement from Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the attack, and also for an unsuccessful attack on an Israeli charter jet at the Mombassa airport (December 3, 2002)
• American Laurence Foley, an officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, is assassinated in Amman Jordan. Al Qaeda members Salem Saad bin Suweid, a Libyan and Yasser Fathi Ibrahim, a Jordanian are later arrested (December 14, 2002)
• Suspected in September 11 plot to hijack planes and destroy the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and other unspecified targets (2001)
• Plotted an unsuccessful effort to attack U.S. and Israel tourists during millennial celebrations (2000)
• Implicated in bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that killed over 300 (1998)
• Accused by the US of bomb attacks on American military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1996)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to assassinate President Clinton in the Philippines (1995)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to bomb multiple U.S. trans-Pacific flights (1995)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to bomb U.S. and Israeli embassies in Manila (1994)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II in Manila (1994)
• Claims to have downed U.S. helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia (1993)
• Attempted bombing of U.S. troops in Aden, Yemen (1992)

Written and Researched by Ratnesh Dwivedi in May 2009