http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/07/10/1120934123814.html
Professor Amin Saikal - director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University
"Al-Qaeda has certainly proved to be more self-generating and robust than could have been anticipated at the start of the war on terror more than three-and-a-half years ago. The organisation has become highly franchised and dispersed, capable of adapting to changing conditions and circumventing enemy tactics.
The fact that its top leaders, Osama bin Laden and his strategist deputy Aiman al-Zawahiri, have become fugitives seems to have made little difference. They continue to serve as significant symbols of inspiration to galvanise some Muslims to respond to their call."
