The most clear-cut example is that of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an extremist group previously known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by the French acronym GSPC. The earlier group consisted mostly of Algerians bent on overthrowing their own government.
But on Sept. 11, 2006, Zawahiri announced that the group had became Al Qaeda's affiliate in the North African region to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders."
"They had people but they had no arms, no training and no money. By pledging allegiance, they got all of those," one recently departed State Department counter-terrorism official said. In return, Al Qaeda "got more juice" in the form of frequent attacks on Western targets that raised its visibility, the official said.
In recent months, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has launched as many as four attacks a week, often suicide bombings against Western targets and political enemies, including what intelligence officials believe was an attempt to assassinate Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika this month. That bombing killed at least 20 people.
Olivier Guitta, a Moroccan counter-terrorism consultant based in Washington, said that Al Qaeda was using structures already in place to advance its cause.
"It is really moving and shaking the region," he said, adding that some loyalists are angry that the organization is now attacking civilians.
U.S. intelligence officials are convinced that the alliance is not so much a merger but a takeover of the GSPC, which Riedel said came only after "many, many months of discussions about what the terms and conditions would be" between Zawahiri and Bin Laden and GSPC leader Abdelmalek Droudkel.
The group now is active throughout much of North Africa and the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan are using the network's contacts and foot soldiers in North Africa and in Spain and other parts of Europe.
In many parts of Europe, they can disappear into large North African communities to recruit operatives, raise money and plot attacks.
Al Qaeda's expansion efforts in some cases have encountered resistance. In Southeast Asia, some groups have rejected advances by its affiliates Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines and Jemaah Islamiah, the senior administration official said.
