Terrorism far from over with Bin Laden demise
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The abrupt killing of the world's top terrorist may be a psychological blow to his empire, the highly decentralized group is far from dead, observers said, warning it is very likely al Qaeda will get a boost from the jobless young people with dampened spirit for a normal life across part of the Islamic world.
NO BIG OPTIMISM
"Obviously, there is a certain degree of satisfaction because, in terms of terrorism, he was the number one enemy," said Antonio Panzeri, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Delegation for relations with Maghreb countries.
"However, this event doesn't mean we have defeated terrorism," Panzeri told Xinhua.
According to him, the satisfaction is accompanied by a feeling of worry: there could be a response from some al Qaeda terrorist cells, which are now spread all over the planet.
"We must remain extremely watchful and vigilant," he warned. Josef Janning, Director of Studies of the European Policy Centre ( EPC), believed death of Osama Bin Laden could offer a temporary relief.
For him, the killing of the al Qaeda boss has proved that no perpetrator of terrorist acts could hide from an international hunt however strong was his local penetration.
"There is probably no safe haven for known and active terrorists," said Janning, an expert on situations in the Middle East.
DECENTRALIZED OPERATION IN AL QAEDA
Nevertheless, the de facto decapitation of al Qaeda doesn't necessarily mean the its network would be paralyzed, Janning said.
Al Qaeda had been forced over the past years to become increasingly decentralized, which means much less a large scale coordination of terrorist activity could be seen.
Apparently the network is not dependent of the existence of an active central leadership, said Janning.
The top priority for Bin Laden in the past decade had been to remain invisible. He determined the appointment of some key figures in the terror network, but rarely led any concrete attacks.
The group has developed a robust capacity to grow with huge influence on sympathizers, but al Qaeda has also been picky to affiliate anyone.
The local branches of the group usually operate separately, but are willing to listen to the same voices.
Therefore, Janning said there is an element of discouragement, a symbolic figure is death. But its cells across large part of the Islamic world are not.
"It is a big mistake to believe that with the death of Osama Bin Laden, the potential for terrorist activities has gone," said Janning.
JOB OR TERROR
Janning believed there is a wound hard to cure across North Africa and the Middle East, that is, an enormously large number of young people have fairly poor economic perspective.
"You can elect whatever government you want in Egypt, they will not be able in the short term to provide for jobs, " he said.
The young people simply need jobs which "would allow them to settle down, establish a family, and basically realize what they want in life," he added.
According to Janning, the very uncertain economic perspective will certainly frustrate a lot of people and among those frustrated, a percentage will, Bin Laden dead or alive, sell their souls to terror.
