Australian intelligence said on Wednesday that Al Qaeda appeared to be strengthening itself in the Pak-Afghan border area despite offensives by US and Pakistani forces. Paul O’Sullivan, the head of the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation, said the rise in terrorist attacks and disrupted plots since the 9/11 showed that the group was carrying on its activities. “Despite successful disruption activities, Al Qaeda appears to be rebuilding its organisational and operational capabilities from bases in the tribal regions bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, and networks in the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe,” O’Sullivan said in a rare public speech to a security forum in Sydney