Al-Qaida 'nodes' worry U.S. officials

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- With the central branch of al-Qaida apparently weakened, U.S. intelligence officials said "regional nodes" are taking center stage.

CIA Director David Petraeus, in congressional testimony this week, verified earlier threat sentiments regarding al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida.

AQAP, he said, was "the most dangerous regional node in the global jihad."

AQAP claimed responsibility for several attacks on Western targets last year. But apart from Yemen, intelligence officials, speaking during a background briefing, noted branches of al-Qaida were springing up across much of the Middle East and North Africa.

Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for August attacks on U.N. compounds in Abuja after allegedly receiving al-Qaida training in Central Asia. U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, the top U.S. military authority in Africa, told the BBC recently there were growing ties between Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the North African branch of al-Qaida.

Though on the retreat, al-Qaida affiliates in al-Shabaab have hampered political developments in Somalia. Human rights groups have also expressed concern about al-Qaida activity in Libya.

With Osama bin Laden out of the picture, intelligence officials said al-Qaida central may be waning.

"They'll remain a concern but these regional nodes are the way of the future," one official said during the background briefing.