Jason Burke answers your questions on al-Qaida

Jason Burke , south Asia correspondent for the Guardian and al-Qaida expert, will be online from 2pm (GMT) to answer your questions on the fallout from Osama bin Laden’s death Question 3 russellbrand asks: Do you think Bin Laden’s death will allow the USA to as such clear the history of their previous relationship and dealings with him? To which Jason responds: Total myth that CIA created OBL. just not true. CIA had no direct dealings with him in 80s, had barely heard of him, dealt just with Pakistanis who dealt with the Afghans not the international brigade (whose military contribution was negligible anyway). How do I know this? lots and lots of footwork in Peshawar and in the US. Absolutely no one – American officials, Pakistanis, former Mujahideen, no one – accepts the whole “blowback” thesis. Question 2 Reader gablac says : My concerns are mainly on “What now?”. The finding of communication equipments in Osama bin Laden’s compound and the tracking of a “courier” to find him out, could prove that OBL was not just a charismatic leader, but also a “strategic” leader. Moreover, he was the focus point fro the fundraiser from the Gulf. So now, what you think could be the future of the linkage between al-Qaida and the Taliban Pakistani groups and the direction of the funding from the Gulf? And, moreover, could a person like Awlaki, that till now, has had a minimum role in the Af/Pak context, take a leading role in the global radicalisation, without a reference point like OBL? Jason answers: Gablac, I wrote about Awlaki in this morning’s paper. I think he’s more likely to move into the spot of most known leader overall if you look at the general jihad movement/phenomenon rather than any formal position within al-Qaida (which he’s not really a part of anyway). As for linkage of AQ and Pak groups – all very ad hoc and personal anyway. So I think very fragmented in the future, based on individual networks etc/room for cooperation, but pragmatic rather than ideological or strategic. Does that make sense? Question 1 Jason Burke is online and starting to respond to your questions. He’ll get through as many as he can, he says, but is also available after the Q&A on Twitter at @burke_jason . A question from citizenbird to start off with: In the recently released Guantanamo files regarding Abu Faraj Libi [al-Libi] , it has been “revealed” for want of a better term that according to Sharif al Masri, that Al Qaeda supposedly has a nuclear device in Europe (which it was alleged that Libi knew the location of) which it will transfer to America in the occurrence of Bin Laden’s capture or death. Is this a viable possibility, or is this yet another case of the Guantanamo files being more of interest in inventiveness rather than actual fact? Jason responds: I think actually, from memory, it was in the file of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, who was very good at saying exactly what he thought his interrogators wanted to hear and inventing a tonne of plots to get security services all over the world to run around after red herrings … so I don’t know for certain but I’d be willing to bet a substantial amount of money that no bomb in Europe – or anywhere else – ever existed. As reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden continues to fill the world’s news pages Jason Burke, the south Asia correspondent of The Guardian and The Observer newspapers, will be online from 2pm (GMT) to answer your questions about the fallout of the terrorist leader’s death and what this means for the future of al-Qaida. One of the main subjects today looks set to be accusations that Pakistan had been harbouring Bin Laden . Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari dismissed such charges as “baseless speculation”. Jason is the author of Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror and On the Road to Kandahar: Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World. Jason will be ready to answer your questions on this and more: • Will there be a successor to Osama bin Laden? • Does it matter? • Are we too fixated on leadership figures? Leave your questions in the comments below and Jason will join in the discussion from 2pm (GMT) Osama bin Laden al-Qaida Middle East Pakistan Laura Oliver guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.