Jack Straw warns that Osama bin Laden is "psychotic and paranoid" and that terrorist attacks may continue after his al Qaeda network is destroyed.

In a Times interview the foreign secretary argues that bin Laden is a Hitler-style figure at the head of an organisation that may carry out further acts of violence. "He is of great importance in this movement. It has been so focused on his personality. To that extent it is similar to the Nazi phenomenon," he said.

"What we know from the way terrorist groups have operated in the past, even when they have been destroyed, is that those still at large may decide to carry out some further acts of terrorism."