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al-Qaida on the Move

By Associated Press

The director of national intelligence says says he's concerned that al-Qaida is shifting its focus outside of Iraq. al-Qaida on the Move

Published: Tue, February 05, 2008 - 11:09 am Last Updated: Tue, February 05, 2008 - 11:13 am

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - The director of national intelligence says
he's concerned that al-Qaida in Iraq is shifting its focus outside
of Iraq.
Testifying before a Senate panel, Mike McConnell says al Qaida
remains the top threat to U.S. despite recent setbacks in Iraq as
well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
McConnell says al-Qaida continues to find a "safe haven" in
Pakistan's tribal areas. Those areas are smaller and less secure
than the bases al-Qaida once found in Afghanistan, but he says the
group is able to train for strikes in Pakistan, the Middle East,
Africa and the U.S. from those locations.
McConnell also told the panel that the Taliban, once thought to
be routed from Afghanistan, has expanded its operations into
previously peaceful areas in the western part of the country and
around the capital of Kabul. That despite the death or capture of
three top commanders in the last year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)