Al Qaida s leadership has been greatly weakened and more than 5,000 terrorists have been captured or killed in the five years since the September 11 attacks on the United States, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said Monday. General Michael Hayden s assessment came the same day that al Qaida s second-raking leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, released a video threatening attacks in the Gulf and Israel. In five years, more than 5,000 terrorists have been captured or killed, Hayden told CIA workers. Al Qaida s core operational leadership has been decimated, and their successors are in hiding or on the run. Hayden acknowledged that the September 11 attacks were an unforgettable blow that the intelligence agency had not been able to prevent. But he said the CIA had worked closely with other foreign intelligence agencies to break up cells of al Qaida operatives, associates, and sympathizers around the world. Although the enemy, intelligence and resilient, has managed to launch attacks in Europe, Asia, and Africa, many potential catastrophes have been averted, Hayden said.
