WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden may be more powerful as a dead martyr than a live fugitive, a U.S. expert on al-Qaida terrorism says.
Al-Qaida is also more dangerous today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, Bruce Hoffman, author of "Inside Terrorism" and a Georgetown University professor, tells the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel.
The Islamist organization is more dangerous now "because you have now a vast sea of self-radicalized Muslims" not connected with al-Qaida but inspired by it, ready to act in concert with its vision, mission and strategies, he says.
On other topics, Hoffman says Iraq is "not a lost cause," but countering the insurgencies will take at least a decade. The July 2005 London transit bombings that killed 52 people were al-Qaida-inspired, Der Spiegel reported.
He also says the alleged terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives aboard airliners traveling from Britain to the United States, foiled in August, will likely also be shown to be tied to al-Qaida.
