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CNN Live Saturday

An In-Depth Look at Al Qaeda

Aired September 22, 2001 - 12:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington. Topping the news this hour, the Afghan Taliban claims that an unmanned spy plane was shot down today over Afghanistan. There's been no confirmation from the Pentagon.

The United States is offering $25 million for information leading to the capture of those responsible for the terrorist attacks of September the 11th.

Tons of gold and silver bullion are buried in vaults beneath the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The precious medals, worth more than $200 million, belonged to investors and are in the custody of the Bank of Nova Scotia -- Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Judy, we've heard a lot about Osama Bin Laden recently. And now we're going to take an in-depth look at Al Qaeda. That is the global terrorist group that Osama Bin Laden reportedly heads. Our Mike Boettcher says the Al Qaeda is sophisticated. It's well organized and well financed. And it operates, he said, with frightening efficiency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Qaeda operates more, as a corporate holding company except its business is terror and war. Osama Bin Laden is its chairman, the Emir General.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: In terms of his power base, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda have emerged as a very sophisticated and well organized organization that is more like a multinational enterprise.

BOETTCHER: Below Bin Laden is Al Qaeda's governing council; know as the Majlis Al Shura, which is composed of 20 to 30 members. The two top members of the Majlis Al Shura are, according to intelligence sources, Ayman Zawahiri, Bin Laden's likely successor and Mohammed Atef.

Zawahiri is Egypt's most wanted man, accused of leading an Egyptian terror group known as Al Jihad. Atef is military commander.

RANSTORP: One of the things that Bin Laden has been successful is to delegate responsibility to some of his senior lieutenants. Many of those lieutenants, even if Bin Laden were to be assassinated, would still mean that the organization would survive. It would be able to function.

BOETTCHER: Below the governing Al Shura, Al Qaeda subdivides into four departments -- Religious, which issues Bin Laden's Fakwas (ph) or religious edicts; for example, calling for Holy Wars. Department two is Media, which puts out a weekly newspaper called "Newscast" and promotional videotapes. The next department is Finance, the fourth Military.

The Military Committee is led by Mohammed Atef, the number three in Al Qaeda's hierarchy and is itself divided into three departments -- External Military, Internal Military and Terrorist Operations. The External Military group has run Al Qaeda operations in more conventional theaters of war outside of Afghanistan in Kashmir, Bosnia and Chechnya, for example.

PETER BERGEN , CNN TERRORIST ANALYST: The principal recruits through his groups are -- have been from the Middle East, principally Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Yemen.

BOETTCHER: The Internal Military section oversees Al Qaeda's war effort inside Afghanistan. The important committee in terms of running the terrorist attack, like the September 11 assaults in New York and Washington, intelligent sources say, is the Terrorist Operations Committee. In this department, there is a Surveillance Group responsible for intelligence on intended targets, a Supply Cell making sure there is enough equipment, money and other logistical needs to carry out an operation and finally, an Execution Group. It actually plans and carries out the operation.

BERGEN: Particular, when a person who comes to Afghanistan for training with Al Qaeda is probably someone who's early 20s who maybe, should we say, a little underemployed at home. And certainly a committee of Muslim, they come -- they get religious training at these camps as well as military training. But they're indoctrinated into the most extreme reading of Holy War.

BOETTCHER (on-camera): Al Qaeda is highly compartmentalized. Information known by one committee isn't known by another. And its membership is handpicked, especially in the Military Committee. You just don't join Al Qaeda, you are asked to join.

Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Let's get some more insight now as to how these groups, these terrorist cells can form in the midst in the name of Islam and the Muslim world. We're joined now from Detroit by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. He with the Islamic Supreme Council of America.

Shaykh Kabbani, welcome to CNN and thanks for joining us.

SHAYKH HISHAM KABBANI, ISLAMIC COUNCIL OF AMERICA: Thank you, thank you.

KAGAN: I think many Americans over the last 11, 12 days or so have received a crash course in Islam and the Muslim world. And we've been told over and over again that Islam means peace and love. I think it's hard for a lot of Americans to grasp the idea -- how within this world and this religion of peace and love can grow such a hatred to hurt so many people.

KABBANI: It's true what you are saying, people cannot understand it. But originally, these people who are doing these terrorist actions are not Muslims and not having nothing to do Islam. They are heading behind their fingers in order to blame everything on Islam because they've been opposed by their government and they run away from their countries and they establish themselves in these areas or a place where they can practice freely what they want.

KAGAN: And in fact, a number of Muslims were hurt and killed on the day of September 11 in the World Trade Center towers. And in the days ensuing, life has become very difficult for many Muslim Americans here in this country.

KABBANI: Yes, many Muslims been -- were killed there and they had a prayer place even in the workplace center where every Friday they pray their Friday ceremony. And as a result, that attack was an attack on Islam as a whole and that's why the Muslims, they are afraid that they are a target not from the Americans because they know the Americans are peaceful people and they came to this country to feel freely and to live freely because it's a country of freedom. But they are targets from their other Muslim brothers.

KAGAN: I want to call on another expertise of yours and as I understand it, in reading about you before this interview, you have many ties in Uzbekistan. And this is one of the areas of Central Asia that is coming to focus right now. One of the former Soviet republics that basically has become focus and Ground Zero for what could be the next military attack. What can you tell us about Uzbekistan, about that country and what's happening there?

KABBANI: You know, after the collapse of the ex-Soviet Union, the Central Asian countries begin to have their own structures and their own traditional Islam. They begin to bring back their traditional and mainstream Islam. So they didn't want any kind of a new sect that might interfere in their country because they knew that this network or there are extremists that they invented something for themselves, an Islam sect for themselves at the beginning of the century and they want a place to begin their state. So -- and they found Uzbekistan and the Central Asia as a fertile soil for them.

So Uzbekistan, you did -- they tried hardly to prevent infiltration of these extremists inside their countries. But unfortunately, they had a lot of sanctions against them because they were accused that they are not letting freedom of religion. And we know in our Islamic belief and that sometime they might infiltrate extremists inside and they try to stop it as hardly as possible. And this is what they did. And they never let these extremists to answer in their countries. And now, they open their countries for such -- in support for the United States.

KAGAN: So it sounds to me though both the people of Uzbekistan and also the United States have a difficult balancing act to do here -- to try to fight the extremists but if the United States steps over the line and is too critical of the Arab world or hurts too many innocent people -- in fact, many of those of people who support the United States might end up turning toward the extremists.

KABBANI: That's correct. That's why we -- our advice was, from the beginning of the attack and before the attack, on 1999, when I spoke on the State Department -- I said that United States has to separate the majority of Muslims from this extremists and not to blame any Muslims because they are peace loving and all Arab countries and Muslim countries are allies to the United States.

And what happened is that, today, I heard from Egyptian sources that the president of Egypt is worried that if an attack comes on innocent Muslim countries and the Arab countries, many people will retaliate and begin to be a danger against the interests of America. So that's why they need to have the allies of -- and the coalition of the Arab countries and Muslim countries before they do any act of attack on Afghanistan and innocent people would be dead.

KAGAN: Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Kabbani, thank you very much for joining us and providing your insight for us today, sir, very much appreciated.

KABBANI: Thank you.

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