CIA director says the hunt for bin Laden is on

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Osama bin Laden is isolated from the day-to-day operations of al-Qaida but the terrorist organization he built is spreading its influence in Africa and the Middle East, CIA director Michael Hayden said Thursday. Al-Qaida remains the single greatest threat to the United States, Hayden said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Atlantic Council. "If there is a major strike on this country, it will bear the fingerprints of al-Qaida," the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said. But Hayden said that bin Laden, hiding in the lawless tribal border area of Pakistan, "appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he leads."