New York: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network continues to pose a "significant" threat to international security and global efforts against it have met with mixed success, the United Nations warned on June 27.

A UN monitoring group set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States in its report, said global counter-terrorism efforts had made some headway in locating and detaining various al-Qaida leaders and breaking up cells in a number of countries.

However, recent events like the bombings in Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Morocco and Afghanistan showed that al-Qaida and its associated groups "still pose a significant threat" to international peace and security.

"They retain strong appeal among Islamic extremist elements around the world ... (and) there are also indications that the al-Qaida network has been able to reconstitute its levels of support," the report said.

The UN report particularly highlighted concerns over the emergence of a "Third Generation al-Qaida" -- made up of young Muslims, from many countries, who have been subjected to teachings of an extreme form of Islam and continue to be recruited into the ranks of the suicide bombers.

Agencies