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Report Indicates Al-Qaeda Still a Big Threat - Empire? - Global Policy Forum Report Indicates Al-Qaeda Still a Big Threat
By Elizabeth Becker
BBC
December 18, 2001
Islamic militants of the al-Qaeda network still pose a substantial global threat, a UN group monitoring its activities has warned. Although some progress has been made in combating al-Qaeda, stronger and more co-ordinated efforts are needed by the international community, the group says in its latest report.
The group, which was set up following the 11 September attacks also believes al-Qaeda has established new training camps in eastern Afghanistan, which are attracting new recruits. The leader of the expert group, Michael Chandler, told reporters the main danger was posed by al-Qaeda members who had already been trained, and had melted back into society.
He said there were no precise numbers available of al-Qaeda operatives worldwide "but the figure of 10,000, is tossed around". The main theme of his report - the group's third - is the need for countries to share information more effectively in order to combat what is still described as a substantial threat to global peace and security.
It stresses the need for governments to provide names to the UN consolidated list of those associated with al-Qaeda and the Taleban so law-enforcers can know who to go after. So far, 92 groups and 232 people are named, and another 104 people are named in the report as possible members who have not been listed by governments.
Mr Chandler said levels of co-operation can be improved, but he said several governments, including Saudi Arabia, had moved against charities that fund al-Qaeda. He also praised the widespread co-operation which led to the break-up of the cells thought to be behind the Bali bombing.
However the report also noted that al-Qaeda continued to have access to "substantial quantities" of arms and explosives, and expressed deep concern at the risk of the network acquiring weapons of mass destruction or a dirty bomb.
The UN group said a number of new training camps were recently activated near the border with Pakistan - an area that the Afghan coalition forces have found notoriously difficult to control.
These simple camps - believed to be in the Assadabad region, north of a line between Peshawar, the Khyber Pass and Jalalabad - are attracting new recruits, Mr Chandler said. He stressed that people must not overlook the continuing widespread sympathy for al-Qaeda that makes this possible.
He said the camps are changing locations; so far, it seems, the coalition forces have not said they have been able to shut them down. However one unnamed US official told Reuters news agency there was no evidence of any new camps.
Overall, Mr Chandler provided what is being seen as a rather less bleak assessment of the fight against al-Qaeda than in his last report. "There's no room for complacency, but there's definitely been an improvement, and this is an ongoing process as more and more resources and... and measures are brought to bear - but there are still too many of them out there," he said.
"The ones who got trained in all these evil techniques have melted back into different societies, and they're the ones we have to worry about."
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