Al Qaida's Structure

Key points

  • Al Qaida is a "network of terrorist networks"
  • Core Al Qaida consists of Bin Laden and leadership
  • Linked networks have occasional contact with the AQ core
  • Inspired networks and cells are motivated by AQ ideology

Links:

The structure and organisational nature of Al Qaida has often been the subject of confusion and misunderstanding among the general public. At one extreme, it has been portrayed as a vast, highly structured organisation with Usama bin Laden in direct control of terrorist plots around the world. At the other extreme, some have asserted that Al Qaida does not actually exist as an organisation and is merely a "brand name" used to artificially link otherwise unconnected terrorist groups.

Neither view is accurate. Al Qaida is not a monolithic organisation, nor is it merely a "brand name". It is, instead, a movement consisting of a "network of networks." The AQ movement can be characterised as comprising three elements:

  • Al Qaida core: consists of Usama bin Laden himself, the Al Qaida senior leadership and the other surviving Al Qaida operatives under their direct control. This is essentially the remnant of the original pre-9/11 Al Qaida organisation. It has been badly disrupted by the worldwide campaign against terrorism, but it remains active in planning attacks and recruiting operatives.

  • Al Qaida-linked networks: consists of terrorist networks which share Al Qaida's ideology and are in occasional contact with the Al Qaida core. The "fertiliser plot" terrorist cell convicted in April 2007 is an example of such a network, one of whose members had travelled to Pakistan for terrorist training and is believed to have had direct contact with Al Qaida figures.

  • Al Qaida-inspired networks and cells: consists of groups which share Al Qaida's ideology but do not have current contacts or links with Al Qaida. One such terrorist network carried out the 2004 Madrid train bombings; another such network, the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islaamiyah, carried out the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2003.

Anti-terrorist operations over the last few years have been successful in averting a number of planned attacks. However, the Al Qaida leadership still aspires to carry out mass casualty attacks wherever it can arrange them.