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American Morning
Al Qaeda Reorganizing
Aired May 09, 2003 - 09:16 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Could Al Qaeda be reorganizing? A man claiming to be the new spokesman for the group says yes. An interview with him appears today in an Arabic weekly published in London. In it, he says Al Qaeda plans a new attack against the U.S. So is the report credible?
Our expert on terrorism, Peter Bergen, is in Washington this morning.
Hello to you, Peter.
Who is -- and here' the name, Sabet Ben Kias (ph). Is he legitimate?
PETER BERGEN CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I think it's hard to tell right now. Previously, we have heard from a spokesman several times since 9/11 by the name of Abu Reit (ph), who is a Kuwait, who clearly is been the spokesman for this group. This Arabic weekly in London thinks of this guy as legit. Is he really the spokesman for the group? I think that's hard to tell right now. The kinds of things he's saying are similar to what Al Qaeda has been saying since 9/11, that they're in business, they're not being disrupted, and they are preparing another attack on a scale of 9/11, which is really what you'd expect them to say. They're not going to be say we're out of business. So these threats are, I think, it's hard to -- it's hard to judge if the threats are meaningful, but the kinds of things you'd expect them to say.
COLLINS: FBI director Robert Mueller said yesterday the FBI is chipping away at Al Qaeda's ability to deliver. Let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIR.: Our capabilities, our deterrence in the United States has improved, I think, substantially since September 11th, and should give us some additional degree of confidence that we are on the right track in reducing, if not totally removing, the threat from groups of individuals such as Al Qaeda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
But earlier this week, Peter, the FBI counterterrorism chief says even if Al Qaeda has been crippled -- quote -- "it is a severe threat to this nation." So which is it?
BERGEN: Both of these things could be true at the same time. I mean, certainly they've been severely disrupted. Since 9/11, Al Qaeda has not been able to do many anti-American attacks. The ones that have happened have been relatively small, minor attacks outside of the United States.
However, this is a group that has demonstrated a lot of patience in the past and also has demonstrated the ability to carry out complex operations. I don't think they're going to suddenly retire and go and do other things. People like Osama bin Laden, who's still is at large and his deputy, Aman Al Zawari, have been involved in terrorist activities for a long time, and they are not going to change their opinions. You can't negotiate or compromise with them.
So I believe the threat from them remains something that we will be dealing with for several years in the future.
However, clearly, they have been disrupted. I think perhaps only a dozen Americans have been killed in terrorist acts since 9/11 by either Al Qaeda or groups affiliated with it, and that number, although individual tragedy for each of these people involved, I think speaks for itself. That's actually a very low number historically in the last year and a half, to have only a dozen people killed by these groups represents a quite a victory in a sense.
COLLINS: Peter, before I let you go, German federal prosecutors have charged a second Moroccan man Abuganan Mazudi (ph) with being an accessory with the 9/11 attacks and of a membership of the Al Qaeda cell base in Hamburg that helped plan those attacks. Who is this guy?
BERGEN: Actually, Heidi, frankly, I don't know. I don't know who he is.
COLLINS: All right, we'll be checking into that and try to find out more information.
Peter Bergen, thank you so much. Coming to us live from Washington this morning.
BERGEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 9, 2003 - 09:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Could Al Qaeda be reorganizing? A man claiming to be the new spokesman for the group says yes. An interview with him appears today in an Arabic weekly published in London. In it, he says Al Qaeda plans a new attack against the U.S. So is the report credible?
Our expert on terrorism, Peter Bergen, is in Washington this morning.
Hello to you, Peter.
Who is -- and here' the name, Sabet Ben Kias (ph). Is he legitimate?
PETER BERGEN CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I think it's hard to tell right now. Previously, we have heard from a spokesman several times since 9/11 by the name of Abu Reit (ph), who is a Kuwait, who clearly is been the spokesman for this group. This Arabic weekly in London thinks of this guy as legit. Is he really the spokesman for the group? I think that's hard to tell right now. The kinds of things he's saying are similar to what Al Qaeda has been saying since 9/11, that they're in business, they're not being disrupted, and they are preparing another attack on a scale of 9/11, which is really what you'd expect them to say. They're not going to be say we're out of business. So these threats are, I think, it's hard to -- it's hard to judge if the threats are meaningful, but the kinds of things you'd expect them to say.
COLLINS: FBI director Robert Mueller said yesterday the FBI is chipping away at Al Qaeda's ability to deliver. Let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIR.: Our capabilities, our deterrence in the United States has improved, I think, substantially since September 11th, and should give us some additional degree of confidence that we are on the right track in reducing, if not totally removing, the threat from groups of individuals such as Al Qaeda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
But earlier this week, Peter, the FBI counterterrorism chief says even if Al Qaeda has been crippled -- quote -- "it is a severe threat to this nation." So which is it?
BERGEN: Both of these things could be true at the same time. I mean, certainly they've been severely disrupted. Since 9/11, Al Qaeda has not been able to do many anti-American attacks. The ones that have happened have been relatively small, minor attacks outside of the United States.
However, this is a group that has demonstrated a lot of patience in the past and also has demonstrated the ability to carry out complex operations. I don't think they're going to suddenly retire and go and do other things. People like Osama bin Laden, who's still is at large and his deputy, Aman Al Zawari, have been involved in terrorist activities for a long time, and they are not going to change their opinions. You can't negotiate or compromise with them.
So I believe the threat from them remains something that we will be dealing with for several years in the future.
However, clearly, they have been disrupted. I think perhaps only a dozen Americans have been killed in terrorist acts since 9/11 by either Al Qaeda or groups affiliated with it, and that number, although individual tragedy for each of these people involved, I think speaks for itself. That's actually a very low number historically in the last year and a half, to have only a dozen people killed by these groups represents a quite a victory in a sense.
COLLINS: Peter, before I let you go, German federal prosecutors have charged a second Moroccan man Abuganan Mazudi (ph) with being an accessory with the 9/11 attacks and of a membership of the Al Qaeda cell base in Hamburg that helped plan those attacks. Who is this guy?
BERGEN: Actually, Heidi, frankly, I don't know. I don't know who he is.
COLLINS: All right, we'll be checking into that and try to find out more information.
Peter Bergen, thank you so much. Coming to us live from Washington this morning.
BERGEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
