What is al Qaeda?

Al Qaeda is an armed network of Sunni Muslims with very extreme views.

They have been blamed for a lot of attacks and bombings in different countries all over the world.

They are opposed to a lot of western governments, who have called them a terrorist organisation.

They want countries like the US to stop having influence in the Middle East - particularly in places like Iraq and Israel.

Their leader is thought to be a man called Osama bin Laden.

Although they claim to be on a holy war, many Muslims say what they are doing is very wrong.

It's thought they are loosely organised, with one al Qaeda group, or cell, not really knowing very much about another.

The name al Qaeda means "the base".