[Washington Times] Bill Gertz - Internal divisions between Saudi and Egyptian leaders of al-Qaeda are producing "fissures" within the terrorist group and a possible battle over who will succeed Osama bin Laden, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said Tuesday in an interview. Hayden also said that al-Qaeda regrouped in the past two years inside tribal areas of Pakistan and linked up with Pashtun regional extremists in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. "Keep in mind, he [bin Laden] is a Saudi. An awful lot of that leadership is Egyptian. If the Saudi dies, who becomes the next guy may be quite a contentious matter," Hayden said. Terrorism specialists said al-Qaeda relies on Saudi Islamists to provide ideological and financial support, while Egyptians, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, supply practical expertise related to terrorist attacks.
2008-03-13 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive