"Nobody knows how al-Qaida really works. Consider, for instance, that the time lapse between the Africa embassy bombings and 9/11 was more than three years. Therefore the fact that no major attack has taken place since 9/11 is not altogether very surprising.

"Al-Qaida is an extremely resilient organization and it will most likely surprise everybody by how, when and where it executes its next catastrophic attack."

Asked when a weapons of mass destruction attack is likely to take place, Dr. al-Faqih said: "It could happen at any time."

The al-Qaida expert told interviewer Mahan Abedin – an editor with the Jamestown Foundation's publication Terrorism Monitor - that the terrorist organization's operations in Saudi Arabia have been severely damaged by government offensives.

"But of course al-Qaida is an ideology and its potency cannot be reduced to the number of men in its ranks," he cautioned.

"Moreover, the invasion and occupation of Iraq gave al-Qaida a huge boost and the Saudi government has indirectly admitted that at least 2,500 Saudis are fighting in Iraq."

Al-Faqih said that for the first time, the Saudi government has begun to talk about the problem of Saudis returning to the kingdom after fighting against the Americans in Iraq.

"A classified interior ministry report claims that at least 200 have returned and are currently plotting attacks inside the Kingdom.

"An attack on the royals will likely be carried out by returnees from Iraq."

But al-Faqih acknowledged that al-Qaida's activities in Saudi Arabia have turned many Saudis against the organization.

"Al-Qaida has lost ground militarily, politically and ideologically. Attacking civilians proved to be a major blunder and it remains to be seen whether they can fully recover from it.

"Also, by attacking the security forces they lost a lot of sympathy inside these organizations."

The feeling in Saudi society today is no longer particularly sympathetic toward al-Qaida, according to al-Faqih.

"The situation was very different two or three years ago, when ordinary people were willing to give the jihadis shelter and other forms of support."

Al-Faqih also predicted that 'al-Qaida in Iraq' leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would likely be killed soon – and said that ordinary Saudis view their government's support for the occupation of Iraq as "treason.”

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