Evidence of Saudi involvement risks complicating its relationship with the Yemeni government in Sana'a, and with tribal leaders who control large parts of Yemen where al-Qaida operates.
After the September 11 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, US officials said extremists with ties to al-Qaida operated a training camp at Ras Kamboni, and al-Qaida members were believed to have visited it.
This bias amongst commentators towards presenting a united al-Qaida in various regions of the world is conducive only to resurrecting the popular, yet deeply flawed theory that al-Qaida operates on a global basis as a cohesive group, with all that this implies for the threat it poses to global security.
Burkina Faso is an important US ally in west Africa against fighters linked to al-Qaida operating in the Sahel region.
Pakistan, in the border region near Afghanistan, is perhaps the epicenter [of global terrorism], although al Qaida is operating all over the world, in Yemen, in Somalia, in northern Africa, affiliates in Southeast Asia.
On his return he was immediately held under a European arrest warrant alleging him to be a member of an al-Qaida cell operating in Spain.
"We suspect armed groups linked to al-Qaida, maybe operating in Mali but who have come through southern Libya," said Mahamadou Karidjo.
The focus of investigations should not be alleged al-Qaida cells operating in Britain - British authorities are convinced they simply don't exist.
They believe Kasab may be useful in building up a picture of the web of organisations linked to al-Qaida currently operating out of Pakistan.
The Madrid-based group, made up of former mojahedin fighters from Afghanistan and Bosnia, allegedly also provided support for al-Qaida cells operating across Europe.
There is evidence that, as the US magazine The Atlantic puts it, "Qatar's military and economic largesse has made its way to Jabhat al-Nusra", an al-Qaida group operating in Syria.
