- On June 10, 2002, the US claimed to have uncovered an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive 'dirty bomb', possibly in Washington DC. They arrested a US citizen in Chicago airport on his way back from Pakistan and Afghanistan where it is said that he learned to build such a device. His name is Jose Padilla who, while in jail, became a Muslim and changed his name to al-Muhajir.

In August 2002, the FBI had to admit that, at the best, Jose Padilla talked about a possible dirty bomb but did not start to make it, had no radioactive material, and had no plan how and where to use it. At the best he could be accused of planning an attack on the base of information obtained from the former al-Qaida's head of recruitment, Abu Zubaydah, a senior aide of Osama bin Laden, kept in prison in Pakistan. All that is known about al-Muhajir is that he was arrested May 8 at Chicago airport and sent to a military prison in Charleston, South Carolina. There he will be kept in isolation without any contact with anybody, without access to a lawyer, and for an indefinite amount of time as he was classified as a national who helped the enemy.

- In June 2002, the Moroccan police arrested three Saudi citizens and the Moroccan wives of two of them. They are accused of plotting to attack American and British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar with inflatable dinghies loaded with explosives. They apparently admitted that they are part of the al-Qaida network.

- At the end of June 2002, al-Qaida was said to threaten the US with Cyber-terrorism. These terrorists would be planning to attack America by hacking into the US computer networks aiming to disrupt electricity and telephone systems, dams, and nuclear power stations. Are these 'peasant' Muslims so sophisticated to be able to do these things to America? The US security people are repeatedly telling that the danger could come in so many ways, but nobody is listening anymore. People believe that the politicians are covering themselves by shouting wolf all the time. The danger is that when there will be a real danger, nobody will listen to the warnings.

- According to the Washington Post of December 11, 2002, the US has received a credible report that some terrorists affiliated to al-Qaida were given chemical weapons by Iraq some weeks ago. The newspaper said that it was probably the nerve agent VX. The White House does not know anything about it, and they have no evidence that Saddam Hussein authorised such a transaction.

- On May 8, 2003, it was revealed that al-Qaida had restructured itself, and was planning new spectacular attacks against US interests. Al-Qaida's new spokesman, Thabet bin Qais, denied that his organisation had been rendered inoffensive, and explained that familiar faces had been replaced by newcomers 'who have a very good security cover,' and are unknown to the American intelligence agencies. This is not the first time that this kind of information is given to the newspapers by the American authorities. In the past they resulted to be false, and nothing happened. This time we do not know. This information came after the Saudi government said that it had prevented a suspected al-Qaida plot to kill members of the country's royal family. Local authorities seized arms and documents, but the terrorists escaped after a gun battle.

- On May 19, 2003, the US authorities revealed that thousands of al-Qaida activists are ready to attack western interests and people all over the world. After the coalition killed thousand of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, bombing from 30,000 feet, using cluster bombs in order to minimise the number of their soldiers killed, what could they expect? Bush's claims of success in his war on terrorism have been too optimistic. Anti-western terrorists are there, and they will fight us if only for revenge.

- Also on May 19, 2003, the Saudi and American authorities issued renewed warnings that more terrorist attacks could take place in the next few days in Saudi Arabia, and possibly in the USA. Al-Qaida recovered its strength and is now again fully operative after regrouping. The Egyptian Saif al-Adel is believed to be the new al-Qaida military chief and the man responsible for the recent bombings in Riyadh.

- The US raised its state of alert on May 20 as intelligence reports indicated that al-Qaida is planning attacks in the next few days on American soil and western interests in the world. The US, Britain and Germany closed their embassies in Riyadh for a few days as well as some consular offices.

- On February 9, 2004, the US military authorities claimed to have discovered a plot by al-Qaida to stir civil war in Iraq with the help of religious extremists. A 17-pages letter to senior al-Qaida fighters was intercepted. Their help was requested to start a 'sectarian war' in Iraq. The letter, believed to be from Abu Musab al-Zaqawi, was found on a computer disk during a house search in Baghdad. If this letter were genuine, it would prove that al-Qaida is now operating in Iraq.

- A self-proclaimed al-Qaida member calling himself 'Azzam the American' sent a videotape in October 2004 to the ABC television network. In it he is threatening attacks on the US soil. On November 10, 2004, the video was thought to be by a Californian terror suspect wanted by the FBI. His real name is believed to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn. He frequented the al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan, and worked as a translator for al-Qaida.

- On November 12, 2004, the former Taliban head in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammed Omar said that he intends to retake control of Afghanistan. He promised to do his best to get rid of the American puppet government headed by Hamid Karzai. He added that he still believe that he was right not to hand over Osama bin Laden to the USA after September 11, 2001. Handing him over would have saved the Taliban regime, but at the cost of Afghan honour.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Tuesday October 19, 2004, that the war in Iraq has increased the risk of terrorism against the West, at least for the short term. The IISS added a section on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network to "The Military Balance," its authoritative yearly defence handbook, which lists the size and capabilities of the world's armed forces. It said that about half of al-Qaida's 30 top leaders had been killed or captured since the September 11, 2001, attacks, but about 20,000 militants who trained in camps in Afghanistan remain at large with varying levels of capability and motivation.

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