White House: Al Qaeda trying to boost efforts in US
09 Oct 2007 19:07:40 GMT Source: Reuters
(Updates with report, political debate, details) By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda remains the "most serious and dangerous" terrorism threat and is expected to intensify attempts to place agents inside the United States, a White House report said on Tuesday. Despite efforts to destroy the group responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, al Qaeda has protected its top leadership, replenished its lieutenants and "regenerated a safe haven" in Pakistan's tribal areas, the report said. Al Qaeda also continues to pursue weapons of mass destruction and is trying to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material, said the "National Strategy for Homeland Security" report. The report updated the first White House homeland security strategy issued in July 2002, which was after the Sept. 11 attacks but before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It was released as congressional committees prepare to consider legislation this week to expand the government's domestic spying powers permanently and add new civil liberties safeguards. President George W. Bush has staunchly defended his administration's counterterrorism programs, including CIA secret detentions of terrorism suspects and the domestic spying program, saying they are needed to prevent another attack on U.S. soil. But critics question the legality of those programs, and say the Bush administration's focus on the Iraq war has taken resources away from hunting down al Qaeda leaders. The White House report incorporated findings of a national intelligence estimate released earlier this year that warned of a persistent threat from al Qaeda. LIKELY TO INTENSIFY "Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al Qaeda senior leadership, the group likely will intensify its efforts to place operatives here in the homeland," the report said. Identifying suspected al Qaeda operatives inside the United States is "the single highest priority" of the FBI and the Justice Department, White House homeland security adviser Fran Townsend said. She said of al Qaeda's infiltration efforts: "They're not only under way, they're ongoing and have been." Despite reports of safe haven for al Qaeda in Pakistan, the White House reiterated that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had been helpful in fighting terrorism. "We have enjoyed some of our biggest successes with our allies in Pakistan," Townsend told reporters. U.S.-led efforts to hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden have been unsuccessful and he has repeatedly issued audio and video tapes showing that he remains alive. U.S. officials suspect he is hiding in the mountainous border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan. But a former Pakistani intelligence chief said bin Laden could hide more easily in a city than a remote tribal region. Al Qaeda was expected to continue seeking greater cooperation with regional extremist groups, particularly al Qaeda in Iraq, to improve its ability to strike the United States, the report said. "We recognize that our efforts also must involve offense at home and abroad," Bush said in a letter accompanying the report. "Today, our nation is safer, but we are not yet safe." The report said the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah might increasingly consider attacking the United States if it saw the United States as "a direct threat to the group or Iran, its principal sponsor." The report also expressed concern about the use of improvised explosive devices in an attack on U.S. soil because they can be built with relative ease, and said the White House was developing a national strategy against such a threat. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick)
