Lower-level al Qaeda operatives are filling the gaps left by fallen or captured leaders, while some of the top tier are hiding in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. officials said on Sunday. Last Monday’s coordinated car bombings in Saudi Arabia may have been in the pipeline for months and showed that despite thousands of worldwide arrests that al Qaeda was still capable of launching attacks, U.S. lawmakers said. Their assessment came after a week in which Osama bin Laden’s network, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, was suspected in the Riyadh bombings and possibly linked to a spate of bombings in Casablanca, Morocco. Since the deaths and capture of some of the top al Qaeda operatives, “third- and fourth-level terrorists” are conducting operations, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, said on CBS “Face the Nation.” Full Story
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