Is Osama bin Laden still relevant?

In an audio tape a man claiming to be Osama bin Laden has said he is responsibility for the failed attempt to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day and warned Barack Obama that there will be further attacks on the United States.

The Obama administration said intelligence analysts had not confirmed that the al-Qaeda leader’s voice was on the tape and many bloggers are also sceptical of the claim.

Has the west done enough to find this man?

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged over the weekend that the US have little or no recent intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

So is it time to stop looking for him?

Or do you agree with General McChrystal who yesterday said “I don’t think that we can finally defeat al Qaeda until he’s captured or killed” ? Is Osama bin Laden too iconic to give up on?

Here’s our post on this from last week:

On air: Is Islamic extremism Africa’s newest fear?

150 people were killed in Northern Nigeria after two days of violence. Residents in the state of Borno said that Islamic militants burnt a police station, a church and a customs office early yesterday.

The group, which calls itself Taliban, emerged in Nigeria in 2004. It has never been clear if it has proper links to the Taliban in Afghanistan but its leaders profess allegiance to and admiration of Osama bin Laden.