Angry old Ayman

Ayman Al-Zawahiri, by many well-researched accounts, has always been the brain behind the charismatic leadership of Osama bin Laden. Of late, however, he has exhibited a noticeable inclination to address the faceless millions himself. Videotaped articulations of rage from the Egyptian 8220;number two8221; of Al-Qaeda are streaming in thick and fast. This week he is furious at the Pakistan government8217;s operation against the radical clerics and militants at Lal Masjid, and Pervez Musharraf is the target of his ire. This week, too, his audiotape sought to put Britain on notice for the knighthood bestowed on Salman Rushdie. Just five days before that, a video posted on the internet had him calling for action against the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian regimes. Also in the recent past, he has 8212; again on videotape 8212; mocked America8217;s proposed timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Militant jihad is very nebulously networked, and al-Zawahiri8217;s 8212; even Al-Qaeda8217;s 8212; actual place at its centre is fiercely contested. But the increased frequency of his sermons of rage must carry some message. These almost weekly editorials from Jihad Central to keep the rage on boil, of course, come against the backdrop of yet more attacks fuelled by the kind of inchoate rage that oxygenates organisations like Al-Qaeda. Such

messages will presumably keep security agencies around the world on alert. But the choice of targets, for instance, in the failed London attacks nightclubs, shorthand for western depravity and the ever-widening range of issues on al-Zawahiri8217;s radar point to a shift. These failed bombers and on-the-run Al-Qaeda ideologues are getting beyond making geo-political points. They are waging a battle of ideas. And it is a battle where they must be joined.

Could it be a sign of desperation? Movements like Al-Qaeda thrive on motivating their followers into isolation. So could this widening range of sources of anger be a signal that they foresee problems in maintaining isolated rage? We will not know for certain. But Al-Qaeda8217;s operations come most successfully by keeping sleeper cells at the ready in assorted societies. That strength is also its vulnerability. In a strong contest of ideas, those members of sleeper cells 8212; in addition to sympathisers 8212; can also be won over by the very openness of the societies they reside in.