'Terror threat against US serious’
Ap, Washington
The terrorist network al-Qaeda will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on US soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the American homeland. The declassified key findings, to be released publicly on Tuesday, were obtained in advance by The Associated Press. The report lays out a range of dangers from al-Qaeda to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups that pose a "persistent and evolving threat" to the country over the next three years. As expected, however, the findings focus most of their attention on the gravest terror problem: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. The report makes clear that al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has not yet posed a direct threat to US soil, could become a problem here. "Of note," the analysts said, "we assess that al-Qaeda will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the homeland." The analysts also found that al-Qaeda's association with its Iraqi affiliate helps the group to energise the broader Sunni Muslim extremist community, raise resources and recruit and indoctrinate operatives "including for homeland attacks."
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