A new US intelligence report shows al Qaeda is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and plotting attacks, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The five-page report, entitled "al Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West," will be the subject of a meeting at the White House on Thursday, the newspaper said, citing intelligence officials. It concludes the group has rebuilt itself despite extensive US efforts to destroy the network. The intelligence officials declined to discuss the report's content in detail because it is classified, the paper said.
The CIA's deputy director for intelligence, John Kringen, told a congressional committee on Wednesday that al Qaeda appears to be "fairly well-settled into the safe have in the ungoverned spaces of Pakistan." When asked about the intelligence assessment, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he could not discuss any classified report but reiterated concerns that al Qaeda activity was expanding around the world.
"We're concerned about the increased scope. We saw a bombing in Algeria yesterday. We see bombings in North Africa and activities in Somalia and Pakistan. All of these things are creating heightened concern on our part as we move forward," Chertoff told CNN.