London - Osama bin Laden is firmly back in command of al-Qaeda and the group is digging in for guerrilla attacks on US troops in Afghanistan, an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant's associates said on Tuesday.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said al-Qaeda associates recently told him the network had regained confidence after facing intense US bombing and was ready to fight US troops over the long haul.
"Al-Qaeda were shattered during the US bombing so it was difficult for Bin Laden to stay in control. Now they said he is fully in command again and they have regrouped and are organised again," said Atwan.
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"Al-Qaeda people say they are relaxed now and they will fight a war of attrition against US soldiers," added Atwan, who interviewed Bin Laden in 1996 and keeps in contact with his associates and followers.
'He is fully in command again and they have regrouped' Bin Laden was in good health and "safe" and was planning new attacks on the United States, he was told, but his whereabouts were not disclosed.
The United States launched strikes on Afghanistan on October 7 last year to flush out al-Qaeda and hunt down Bin Laden, its prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and to punish the Taliban regime that protected him.
But remnants of al-Qaeda and their Taliban allies have continually frustrated the US-led coalition by hiding in mountains, melting into the local population or fleeing into neighbouring Pakistan or Iran.
Atwan said that al-Qaeda and the Taliban had re-established links that were severed when the United States began its military campaign in Afghanistan. "They are working together again. They are organising," he said.
There is no trail, meanwhile, leading to Bin Laden.
'He will time any new attack to coincide with a US attack on Iraq' Bin Laden's associates told Atwan that the Saudi-born militant was well, "safe" and planning new attacks on the United States.
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