US intelligence officials warn of another terror attack by July

Al-Qaeda is certain to mount another attack on the US in the next three to six months and will continue to target the nation until Osama-bin Laden and his deputy are "killed or captured," according to top US intelligence officials."The chances of an attempted attack are certain. They are going to try," CIA chief Leon Panetta said deposing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Panetta said bin Laden had "deployed individuals to this country who continue to stay in touch with the group". Panetta deposed before the committee along with Dennis Blair, chief of the national intelligence, the director of FBIRobert Mueller and chairman chief of staff Admiral Mike Mullen and all of them warned about a "lone-wolf attacker"."I think its lone wolf plan which I think we have to pay the highest attention to as this would form the greatest threat to the country," Panetta said. Blair told the committee that al-Qaeda was maintaining its intent to attack the US with a largescale operation to cause mass casualties, harm the US economy or both. Their depositions and warnings about continued terror threats came as a bipartisan group of top senators today introduced a legislation in the Senate to cut off funding for the trials of the 9/11 conspirators in civilian court and support their trials by a military commission. The bill was moved by 22 senators including Lindsey Graham, a Republican. "I believe it is inappropriate to give the mastermind of 9/11 the same constitutional rights as an American citizen," Graham said."It has never been done in the history of warfare and now is not the time to start. Military commissions are proper venues for the trial of Khaled Sheikh Muhammad and other 9/11 conspirators," he argued.Elaborating on the intelligence inputs on al-Qaeda, Blair said: "We assess that at least until Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri are dead or captured, al-Qaeda will retain its resolute intent to strike the homeland".The national intelligence chief said US investigators would like to capture bin Laden alive and squeeze him of information.Blair said the threat from al-Qaeda was evolving and it has been evident in attacks carried out by Najibullah Zazi, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Maj Nidal Hasan.Mueller said over the past decade, the focus of strategic terrorism threats has been South Asia, but the threat has been shifting to the Arabian peninsula of late. "This evolution has been most rapid with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which has changed from a regional group with links to al-Qaeda to a global threat with reach into American cities such as Detroit," he said.Lt Gen Ronald L Burgess, director defence intelligence agency, said al-Qaeda remains the most significant terrorist threat to the US and the group still pursues chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials for attacks.