Report: White House calls meeting on al Qaeda threat
White House official says level of concern of new attack in United States is higher than it has been in some time
The White House has called an urgent multi-agency meeting for Thursday to discuss a potential new al Qaeda threat on US soil, ABC News reported on Tuesday.
Top intelligence and law enforcement officials have been told to meet in the White House Situation Room to report on steps to minimize or counter the threat and what steps are being taken to tighten security at government buildings, ABC said.
The meeting would be one of a number that have been convened in light of new intelligence and information learned from the recent failed car bomb attempts in London, ABC reported, citing a senior US administration official. The unnamed official told ABC the level of concern of a new attack in the United States was now higher than it had been in some time.
Law enforcement officials said the botched bombings in London provided clues about possible tactics, ABC reported.
ABC News cited senior US intelligence officials as saying that new information suggests a small al Qaeda cell was on its way to the United States or may already be in the country. Separately, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board his "gut feeling" is that the United States faces an increased risk of attack this summer.
Chertoff said his assessment was based on past patterns of terrorists in Europe, intelligence he did not disclose and recent al Qaeda statements, the Tribune reported.
"Summertime seems to be appealing to them. ... We worry that they are rebuilding their activities," Chertoff told the newspaper.
Al Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has spoken out regularly in audio-taped messages in recent months. In the latest recording, posted on the Internet on Tuesday, the Egyptian cleric threatened more attacks on Britain.
