Former CIA chief Michael Scheuer, who led a team dedicated to hunting down bin Laden during the 1990s, claimed the West simply does not understand the conflict.

He said that although the killing of the Al Qaeda founder was 'very important' the organisation was as strong as ever and is far more connected than many believe.

Mr Scheuer, now a teacher at Georgetown University, told the Times newspaper: 'In 2001 [Al Qaeda] was overwhelmingly based in Afghanistan.

'It still has a part of Afghanistan. It now has a big part of Pakistan [and is] firmly established in Yemen and recovering in Iraq.'

Mr Scheuer warned that with recent events in Libya the organisation could grow in that region and that Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan might all become hotspots.

He says he believes the leadership of Al-Qaeda will probably pass to Abu Yahya al-Libi who escaped a US prison in Afghanistan in 2006.

Mr Scheuer also rejected president Obama's claim that the recent uprisings in Arab countries were a 'rebuke to the world view of Al Qaeda'. Read More