While Osama bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are believed to remain in a tribal redoubt along the Afghan-Pakistani border, midlevel al Qaeda leaders are fanning out, recruiting new middlemen and establishing stronger bases in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. and Pakistani officials say. The moves reflect growing pressure on al Qaeda from U.S. drone attacks and Pakistani military operations that have killed nine of al Qaeda's top 20 commanders as well as Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. "There are indications that some al Qaeda terrorists have started to view the tribal areas of Pakistan as an even rougher place to be," a U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Times. "Some of these terrorists have undoubtedly ended up in Somalia and Yemen, among other places." On Sunday, John Brennan, the top White House adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security, delivered a letter from President Obama to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh asking for more cooperation on fighting al Qaeda's growing presence in the country. Mr. Obama also offered additional foreign aid to the poverty-plagued nation, according to U.S. and Yemeni officials. Militants also have been turning up increasingly in Pakistani cities. On Aug. 19, Pakistani authorities recovered the body of an Algerian, Abdullah Noori, a close associate of bin Laden's, in the Tehkal section of Peshawar, a Pakistani city that is the capital of the North West Frontier Province. According to local police, the body showed additional marks of violence. Pakistani police also arrested Saifullah, a Pakistani militant considered close to al Qaeda, in Bara Kahu, a suburb of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Police said Saifullah had moved from the Waziristan tribal region seeking medical treatment after being injured in a drone attack. ..more..http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/10/al-qaeda-extends-reach/The Somali Conflict Root causes , peace-building strategies
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