Majority of Al Qaeda leadership eliminated: Expert

Al Qaeda, one of the world's most dreaded terror outfits, has had nearly 50-60 per cent of its original top leadership eliminated and is looking for more people from parts of Pakistan to carry forward its terror activities, a leading United States expert has said.

"Nearly 50-60 per cent of the original top leadership of the Al Qaeda has been eliminated and they are now looking for more people from parts of Pakistan to continue the terror activities," Rodney Jones, president of Policy Architects International, told reporters in Mumbai.

PAI, a Virginia-based firm, provides consultancy services on strategic, international security and development issues. To ease the conflict across the world, the Al Qaeda, Taliban and other radical Islamic groups active in Afghanistan and Pakistan needed to be crushed, he said.

When asked about the funds provided by the US to Pakistan reportedly being used against India, Jones said, "This perception is false."

He said, "Whatever resources the US is providing (to Pakistan) is not diverted against India. We cannot solve the Afghanistan problem without the help of Pakistan."

About the funding of Taliban, Jones said, "They might be getting funds by way of extortion, drug dealing and contributions from the Gulf countries."

He also stressed the need for crushing local terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.