Osama's death: What next for al-Qaeda?

The killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is a huge blow to the organisation but as guest columnist Ahmed Rashid reports, its decentralised nature means it has the potential to carry out attacks on any number of targets.

There have been cheers and jubilation in the US and elsewhere in the West, but capital cities around the world are already bracing for the repercussions of Bin Laden's killing.
Hundreds of dedicated and would-be jihadis will be mourning and swearing to give their lives in revenge for his death at the hands of a joint US-Pakistani special forces team in the city of Abbotabad.
There is little doubt that the death of Bin Laden is a huge blow to al-Qaeda.
But at the same time the network has moved over the years from a highly centralised hierarchy - with recruiting, training and orders all scrutinised by its top leaders - to something much more loose and amorphous.