Smaller al-Qaida remains a threat, say officials

WASHINGTON -- The small-scale nature of Tuesday's shootout in Kuwait and last week's bombing in the Philippines -- both suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network -- support the idea that al-Qaida has decentralized, leaving the plotting of attacks to local operatives, U.S. counterterrorism officials say.

Both attacks are still being investigated for connections to al-Qaida, officials said.

Neither was particularly sophisticated, with the attack in Kuwait amounting to a drive-by shooting and the Philippines strike using a nail-packed bomb mounted on a motorcycle. Al-Qaida's calling card is spectacular attacks, using lots of explosives, often against multiple targets simultaneously.

Although both attacks killed U.S. military personnel, there's no evidence they are connected, said a U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Counterterror experts had been expecting some kind of action, and officials said, adding that the small strikes don't rule out the possibility of a large attack.

In Tuesday's attack, two Kuwaitis in a pickup truck attacked a group of Marines during exercises on a small island near Kuwait City. Marine Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd, 20, of Hillsborough, Fla., was shot and killed. The attackers then drove to a second location and attacked again before being killed by Marines, the Pentagon said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the slaying a terrorist act and said, "We condemn it in the strongest terms."

On Wednesday, American troops in a Humvee on mainland Kuwait fired on another vehicle when they saw an occupant draw a gun on them, U.S. officials said.

The Oct. 2 bombing of a market in Zamboanga in the Phillipines killed three people, including American Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Mark Wayne Jackson, 40, who was in the region to train Filipino counterterrorism troops. The attackers are believed to be guerillas fighting for Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic separatist group that is supported by al-Qaida.

Intelligence officials have said they believe al-Qaida decentralized after the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Many of its top leaders are hiding, allowing overseas cells to devise their own attacks, which are often poorly funded and unsophisticated. Leaders are communicating with followers through video and audiotapes, rather than direct contact.

Still organized

But that doesn't mean al-Qaida's leadership has entirely gone to ground.

Counterterrorism officials have said two top bin Laden lieutenants, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, are continuing to organize strikes.

Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, has been tied to the April bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, and al-Nashiri is suspected of organizing plots against U.S. and British warships crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.

A large-scale plot to bomb at least one American embassy in Southeast Asia on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, was broken up. Details of the plot haven't been released, but officials believe it was organized by leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional affiliate of al-Qaida.

A senior al-Qaida operative also revealed some details of the plot after his capture, but it is unknown if it was directed by top lieutenants in the network.

In addition, terrorist groups still have the money to conduct fresh attacks on the United States despite the aggressive campaign to financially paralyze them, Bush administration officials told Congress on Wednesday.

It was unclear if terrorism was behind Sunday's explosion that damaged the hull of a French-owned oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. Some on the ship claim the vessel was struck by a small boat that exploded, but Yemeni officials dispute that.

American officials say they aren't sure what happened, although they note that some circumstances are similar to the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, in which an explosives-laden boat crashed into the destroyer.

French, Yemeni and American investigators are looking into the attack. Francis Taylor, the State Department's top counterterrorism official, met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Tuesday, officials said.