WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The killing of al-Qaida's operations chief in Pakistan is another blow to the terrorist group but wouldn't hurt its independent affiliates, an analyst said.
Atiyah Abdel al-Rahman, 42, a Libyan national, was killed last week in a drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region. Atiyah had recently become deputy to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over after the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in his compound deep inside Pakistan.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Professor Omar Ashour, an Exeter University expert on extremist Islam, said Atiyah's death in the wake of bin Laden's killing is a major blow to the group's central leadership but would not significantly affect the group's independent chapters in the Muslim world.
"In terms of theology, it's very dry right now for al-Qaida. This was one of the few who gathered both tactics: being an experienced activist and a theologian at the same time," Ashour said.
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While agreeing with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that the United States is close to ending al-Qaida as a major threat, Ashour warned that the group's different chapters have operational cells and recruitment centers.
The New York Times reported al-Qaida's "general command" in Pakistan may eventually name a successor to Atiyah.
"With the death of guys like Atiyah, it's increasingly likely that the al-Qaida affiliate groups are just going to start doing their own thing," Brian Fishman, a terrorism analyst at the New America Foundation, told the Times. "At some point, the guys in Pakistan might be reduced to issuing a lot of public statements and hoping for the best."
The report said the fact that al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan remain under siege has not affected its affiliates in Yemen and North Africa.
"For the past two years, the affiliates have been gaining in stature while core al-Qaida has been declining," said a senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "Bin Laden's death accelerated this trend and Atiyah's death is the icing on the cake."
