A resurgent al-Qaeda was capable of planning and co-ordinating massive attacks on Western targets, on the scale of 9/11, according to a leading international think-tank.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies says the "core" al-Qaeda is "adaptable and resilient" and the US and its allies have failed to destroy the organisation.
In its annual strategic survey , the London-based think-tank says the extremist organisation is still capable of instigating major acts of terrorism.
London, 13 Sept. (AKI) - A resurgent al-Qaeda was capable of planning and co-ordinating massive attacks on Western targets, on the scale of 9/11, according to a leading international think-tank.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies says the "core" al-Qaeda is "adaptable and resilient" and the US and its allies have failed to destroy the organisation.
In its annual strategic survey , the London-based think-tank says the extremist organisation is still capable of instigating major acts of terrorism.
"There is increasing evidence that 'core' al-Qaeda is proving adaptable and resilient and has retained an ability to plan and co-ordinate large-scale attacks in the Western world," the survey said.
"Regional Jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb have sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda and begun to show ambition beyond parochial concerns in support of al-Qaeda objectives."
"Plots that have come to light in Europe and elsewhere point to a growing trend towards radicalisation within the Islamic world."
At a media conference to launch the report, Nigel Inkster, the institute's director of transnational threats and political risk, said al-Qaeda was stronger than at the time of 9/11 in 2001 and capable of carrying out another attack on the same scale.
Inkster, a former director of the British intelligence agency, M16, said while many inside al-Qaeda believed 9/11 was a 'tactical error', the recent failed plot in Germany and alleged airliner plot in the UK last year showed it still had a desire to carry out major international attacks.
The report also warned that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by 2009 or 2010 and Iraq remained 'trapped in a complex web of violence'. It raises serious doubts about the long-term survival of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.
In the past year, the report said international affairs had been dominated by America's profound loss of authority and its failure to impose order in Iraq had seriously damaged its standing and credibility.
The IISS' director-general and chief executive, John Chipman, said the domestic situation in Pakistan had become 'more fragile and convoluted' and the environment in states such as Turkey, Jordan, Nigeria as well as Pakistan was unsettled and disturbed.
