'Another al-Qaeda attack on US inevitable'

WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda has an active plot to hit the West and although the US is aware of this, it does not possess precise tactical detail to issue a warning or raise the existing threat level, a top American counter-terrorism official has said.

Another attack on America is only "inevitable", Vice Admiral (retd) John Scott Redd, the Head of the National Counter Terrorism Center, told the Newsweek magazine.

"We have very strong indicators that al-Qaeda is planning to attack the West and is likely to (try to) attack, and we are pretty sure about that. We know some of the precursors ... they would like to come West, and they would like to come as far West as they can," he said.

Redd said what is not known is "who this terrorist is going to be, whether he is going to come out of Karachi and be stopping in Frankfurt; travelling on through to New York with his European Union passport to do something".

"We don't have that kind of tactical detail".

They have a "couple of threads" that indicate "some very tactical stuff", Redd said.

The top administration official maintained that there is still no definitive word on the fate of Osama bin Laden.

Asked why people believe the al-Qaeda leader is still alive, Redd asked, "...why do you believe he's dead?".

"I think we're into the longest period we've gone without hearing from him, but we've done this before. Back in '05, I think (the length of time we didn't hear from bin Laden) may have been a week shorter than now".

"We haven't heard from him (since spring 2006). People are starting to say, 'He's dead. Quite frankly, we think that if he had died it would have become known. It would be very hard to keep that from leaking out," Redd said.

"The short answer is, we don't know. There are those sporadic reports indicating illness, indicating incapacitation, but nothing firm," the top official added.

He said the US was better prepared today for the war on terror than at any time in the history.

"Intelligence is better. They are sharing it better. We are taking the terrorists down. We are working with the allies very carefully. We are doing the strategic operational planning, going after every element in the terrorist life cycle. So we have come a long way," he added.

"But these guys are smart. They are determined. They are patient. So over time we are going to lose a battle or two. We are going to get hit again, you know," he said, adding there is a need for "persistence to outlast it".

The top counter-terrorism official made it known that Washington was not happy with the recent release in Pakistan of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, allegedly a top al-Qaeda communications and computers expert.

"Obviously, we're not exactly happy about that. We have a legal system, and the Pakistanis have a legal system, which was designed for a different era. I won't go into their legal system because I am not an expert on it, but the Supreme Court said, 'You've got to release this guy', and, you know, he's out for a variety of reasons," Redd remarked.