US officials: Core al-Qaeda 'essentially gone'
A year after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks is essentially gone but its affiliates remain a threat to America, US counterterrorist officials say.
Core al-Qaeda's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, still aspires to attack the US, but his Pakistan-based group is scrambling to survive, under fire from CIA drone strikes and laying low for fear of another US raid. That has lessened the threat of another complex attack like a nuclear dirty bomb or a biological weapon, the officials say. (AP)
