WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- The London bomb attacks appear to be by an al-Qaida offshoot and the terror network has been morphing into independent groups, intelligence officials said.
Thursday's London bombings and the Madrid commuter train attacks in March 2004 signal that Islamic extremists are planting new roots and terror cells in Europe's large Muslim community, U.S. intelligence officials told the Boston Globe.
The new terror cells of young Muslim men in Europe present a new challenge to anti-terror efforts that have focused largely on foreign groups, according to intelligence experts.
"The central question is whether it is an al-Qaida-directed attack or an al-Qaida-inspired attack," said Roger Cressey, a former official in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.
"In many respects it will be easier if it is an al-Qaida-directed attack with a familiar command structure. If it is an inspired attack with no operational control over it, it is much more difficult to deal with. My gut tells me it was inspired," he told the Globe.
