Wednesday, June 29, 2011

At end, bin Laden wasn't running al Qaida, officials say

McClatchy reports:
Osama bin Laden was out of touch with the younger generation of al Qaida commanders, and they often didn't follow his advice during the years he was in hiding in northern Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials now say.

Contradicting the assertions of some American officials that bin Laden was running a "command and control" center from the walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, officials say that bin Laden clearly wasn't in control of al Qaida, though he was trying to remain involved or at least influential.