A BBC commentary by Gordon Corera, which opens with:
As uprisings challenge the old order in the Middle East and North Africa, one organisation which for many years claimed it was at the vanguard of toppling authoritarian regimes has so far played almost no part. So is al-Qaeda still relevant? Do the uprisings represent a threat or an opportunity to its role?
Citing Nigel Inkster, a former deputy head of Britain's intelligence service, now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies:
Ayman Al-Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's number two) has been trying to overthrow Egyptian regimes for the last 30 years by violence, and a group of middle-class activists armed with cell phones managed to achieve it in under one month...This is hardly a resounding endorsement for the jihadist business model.
Gordon concludes:
...if al-Qaeda currently appears on the backfoot it may still be able to find new ideological and physical spaces in which to renew itself and continue its struggle.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13003693