Al-Qaeda 'on the march'

[PhilipShore]

The Economist
Jan 27, 2007
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1169851811191&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112188062620


'Terrorist group still training extremists, hatching plots on an 'extensive and growing scale'

As they watch Iraq spiralling into civil war and Taliban attacks in Afghanistan increasing, Western leaders have until recently consoled themselves with one thought: at least the campaign against al-Qaeda has gone quite well. "Absolutely, we're winning. Al-Qaeda is on the run," said President George W. Bush in October.

But al-Qaeda may be growing stronger in North Africa. Last September's announcement of a merger of al-Qaeda and Algeria's Salafist Group for Call and Combat (better known by its French initials GSPC) may herald an attempt to open up a new front against Europe through its large population of Maghrebi immigrants. Al-Zawahiri predicted that "our (GSPC) brothers will be a thorn in the necks of the American and French crusaders and their allies."

"Al-Qaeda is not on the run," says Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University. "It is on the march."

[yurbud]

1. Anyone who says anything about Al Qaeda is lying