US fears Qaeda attack next year

Washington, July 1 : Amid media reports that Al Qaeda was planning attacks on the US, the White House has reportedly issued a fresh warning about a major attack on the US next year. The latest warning endorses a similar warning by Independent senator Joe Lieberman recently.

At a briefing last evening, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that the people who were planning to attack the US were "very dangerous and very secretive and operated from a very dangerous terrain, hiding in caves," reported the Dawn.

Explaining President Bush's strategy for dealing with this threat, she said, "the President was clear that whenever we can we will take action against such people. We will not wait. People hiding in this dangerous terrain were plotting to kill innocent people not just in the US but in other countries as well, even Muslims like in Iraq."

Perino said that as part of its strategy to deal with this threat, the Bush administration was trying to help establish a better economic and political environment in Fata and elsewhere. President Bush was also doing all he could to ensure that Al Qaeda is routed out, she said.

Confirming Lieberman's fears, she said: "Unfortunately, he could be right. We know there are people who are very dangerous and are trying to do that."

Lieberman, who was a vice-presidential candidate in 2004, said in a television interview on Sunday that history shows the US would likely face a terrorist attack in 2009. "Our enemies will test the new President early. Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Centre happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration," he had said.

Perino said: "So Senator Lieberman could be right but we are doing anything we can to prevent a terrorist attack on the US."

ANI