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Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, co-founder of al-Qaeda and intellectual leader of their global jihad, has publicly criticized the current strategies of al-Qaeda, specifically Osama bin Laden and his deputy, al-Zawahiri.
He even criticizes the use of "sleeper cells."The terrorist attacks on September 11 were both immoral and counterproductive, he writes. "Ramming America has become the shortest road to fame and leadership among the Arabs and Muslims. But what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy's buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours?" asks Dr Fadl. "That, in short, is my evaluation of 9/11."
To add a dose of realistic pessimism, I doubt this means the end of al-Qaeda. Al-Sharif has been rotting in an Egyptian prison since 2004, so the chances that he still has a significant amount of power in the AQ power structure is pretty low. He is more useful as a figurehead than an actually leader.He is equally unsparing about Muslims who move to the West and then take up terrorism. "If they gave you permission to enter their homes and live with them, and if they gave you security for yourself and your money, and if they gave you the opportunity to work or study, or they granted you political asylum," writes Dr Fadl, then it is "not honourable" to "betray them, through killing and destruction".
But it is interesting that even AQ is having issues with their current mode of function.