Defeat of Al Qaida is in sight, says US anti-terror official

Washington: A senior American counter-terrorism official has declared that the demise of Al Qaida is in sight because its failure to adapt its violent ideology and tactics has provoked growing dissent across the Islamic world.

The uprising by tribes against Al Qaida in Iraq, protests in northern Africa against suicide bombings and dissent from clerics and former terrorists have put the group's leadership on the defensive as never before, said the official.

"If Al Qaida maintains its current state of play of attacking civilians and Muslims, and continuing to not change its philosophy, it will start to fizzle."

He said the end of the movement as a global threat was "visible" and "foreseeable", in contrast to previous assumptions that it would last for generations.

Acknowledging that the threat of a major Al Qaida attack remains significant, his remarks reflected a quiet confidence within the George W. Bush administration that one of its major goals will be achieved before too long.

Confidence

White House officials are beginning to express confidence that Al Qaida will be defeated. Juan Carlos Zarate, the White House's deputy national security adviser on terrorism, said in a recent speech: "There has been a growing rejection of the Al Qaida programme and message.

"We know that all of this matters to Al Qaida and that its senior leadership is sensitive to the perceived legitimacy of both their actions and their ideology."

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "There are indicators all over the world where Al Qaida's programme is not being met by the grand acceptance that it assumed." However, Peter Bergen, the author and leading terrorism expert, said: "While it is true support for [Osama] Bin Laden, Al Qaida and suicide bombing is evaporating it doesn't translate into a long-term embrace of the United States."