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CIA: Bin Laden doesn't oversee day-to-day al Qaeda operations

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CIA: Capturing or killing bin Laden would still have a powerful effect on al Qaeda
No greater security threat facing the United States than al Qaeda, Hayden says
Bin Laden considers acquisition of nuclear weapons a religious duty, Hayden says
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LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Osama bin Laden is no longer believed to be the head of al Qaeda's day-to-day operations, but the United States' capturing or killing him would still have a powerful effect on the organization, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Tuesday.

Osama bin Laden is spending a great deal of his energy merely surviving, CIA Director Tom Hayden says.

There is no greater security threat facing the United States than al Qaeda and its associates, Hayden said in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

The CIA's top issues, however, also include nuclear proliferation -- particularly in countries like Iran, North Korea and more recently Syria, he said. The greatest challenge lies in detecting those countries who might be developing in secret, Hayden said, as access to sensitive technologies is no longer the exclusive domain of a few advanced nations.

"Bin Laden said repeatedly that he considers acquisition of nuclear weapons a religious duty, and we know that al Qaeda remains determined to attack our country in ways that inflict maximum death and destruction," he said.

Although he took questions from members of the audience, Hayden declined interview requests from journalists covering the event.

Seven years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Bin Laden and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have yet to be captured.

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However, "this man whom we really want to kill or capture is spending a great deal of his energy merely surviving," Hayden said.

In response to a question about how the next president can help the agency focus on its core mission of protecting the homeland, Mr. Hayden replied "do nothing," as the overall current structure of the Central Intelligence Agency is functioning well.

After the election, there will be two daily presidential briefings -- one for President Bush and a second for the president-elect, he said. The transition between presidents will be the first since the office of Director of National Intelligence was created.

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