Al-Qaeda still a serious threat: US

The US plays down an assessment by one of its senior officials terming Osama bin Laden "impotent".

Playing down an assessment by one of its senior officials that Osama bin Laden is "impotent", the US has said that while the Al-Qaeda leader may have been weakened, the terror network which has found safe haven in countries like Pakistan is indeed a "serious" threat.

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"What the NIE said is it (Al-Qaeda) is growing in strength in some areas within the tribal lands of Pakistan because there had been a growth in terms of training bases," the White House Spokesman Tony Snow said.

NIE also noted that globally many of the Al-Qaeda assets and operations had been degraded and the public opinion, especially in the Arab world, was turning against it, he said.

Snow was responding to a question about the characterisation by the President's top Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend that bin Laden is impotent.

"So, it's a complex picture. What you have in the case of Laden is somebody who does not have the ability to strut around a training camp the way he was able to do before 9/11. He is a man in hiding," he said.

"Nevertheless, Al-Qaeda is a serious organisation. It is a key threat to American security. We continue to regard it as such and as Frances pointed out there continue to be very active efforts against it," he added.

"Al-Qaeda clearly was trying to make a difference in Iraq. But what has happened is the demonstration of US seriousness has had an impact. Al-Qaeda in fact does not have the kind of support that it used to have," he said.

"So, when you talk about the growing strength of Al-Qaeda, that is a reaction to the fact that there were safe havens in some areas in Pakistan," he said.