A terrorism expert tells 愛污传媒 the recent bombing of a Mali hotel that killed 19 people may have been an attempt by al Qaeda to grab global attention currently focused its former affiliate, ISIS, which claimed the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13.

Thomas Sanderson, director of the Transnational Threats Project for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Pakistan-based al Qaeda is envious of ISIS, its former affiliate in Iraq, which has a shared goal of establishing a caliphate, or global theocracy, but a different strategy on how to get there.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no way al Qaeda does not feel it鈥檚 on its back foot when it comes to a worldwide jihad, or fight against the west,鈥� Sanderson said.

鈥淭hey clearly were the leaders of that world movement in 2001,鈥� he added, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States that killed near 3,000 people.

Sanderson said he sees 鈥渃lear envy on the part of al Qaeda,鈥� which no longer has 鈥渕omentum鈥� when it comes to attracting fighters and funding.

The tension isn鈥檛 new. There was a disagreement between the leader of ISIS鈥檚 precursor group, al Qaeda in Iraq, and the current leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, going back at least a decade.

Al-Zawahri, who was then Osama bin Laden鈥檚 deputy, warned ISIS-founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's in a 2005 letter that his group鈥檚 brutality toward Shiite civilians in Iraq could turn Muslims against the cause.

Other U.S. intelligence suggested bin Laden thought the way to take over in Arab lands was not by killing other Muslims, but by attacking the 鈥渇ar enemy鈥� of America, thereby weakening U.S. support for Arab dictators and allowing them to be overthrown.

Sanderson said he doesn鈥檛 believe ISIS is interested in an escalating rivalry with al Qaeda, however, so it will try to avoid getting drawn into a pitched battle.

鈥�(ISIS) doesn鈥檛 want to be distracted by an outside competition as they try to firm up their caliphate, their state, as they expand into other areas like Libya,鈥� he said.

With files from The Associated Press